Rebirth of Honor
by Khalthar
Summary: Movie verse:What will happen when Barricade finds out that the reason he joined the Decepticons was based on a false assumption? OC has bad mouth, and plot demons are tyin to KILL me! This is gonna be a LONG one.
1. Chapter 1

He was hurting, Primus, but he was hurting

He was hurting, Primus, but he was hurting. There wasn't enough energon available to re-rout power to his optics. Audio receptors were functioning but only at half capacity. Without being able to bring his optics online, he could not engage his HUD to determine the full extent of his battle damage. He didn't need those systems to tell that his condition was critical though, since he could feel energon leaking from multiple points throughout his chassis. That he was also leaking other vital fluids was a minor inconvenience by comparison. What was more disturbing to him was the fact that he could hear and more importantly FEEL something crawling around on him, poking and probing into vital areas of his frame. Unable to move or even see what was happening to him, Barricade was terrified for the first time in his existence.

He heard and felt the scrape of a metal object against his primary energon conduit, and tried to scream in agony. That no sound emerged told him that his vocal processor was also offline. Then he heard a voice cussing quite spectacularly.

"GOD DAMNIT! Bastard son of an AIDS sucking bitch! Go suck on a hemorrhoid, you over grown chunk of anal fungus!"

Barricade tried to scream again as he felt the leaking energon conduit get twisted and crimped to stop the leak.

"HAH! Leak now BITCH!"

He had no idea who or more accurately, WHAT was attempting to make repairs on his damaged systems but they could at least have the decency to deactivate his pain receptors while doing so. With the largest and most spark threatening leak sealed albeit crudely, he was able to bring ONE of his optical receptors partially online. To his utter horror, he saw an overweight but still somewhat stout human male trying to make some improvised repairs. The human was splattered with energon that had obviously originated from HIM!

"Ok, now that that one is taken care of lets see about the others."

Barricade had no clue as to how long he had been rendered offline, but it must have been quite a while as he was able to see a disturbingly large pool of spreading and sparking energon around him. _**This human must be insane to risk energon electrocution around that much liquid power!**_ Barricade thought to himself. He was forced to watch helplessly as the human continued to conduct makeshift and improvised repairs on his systems. Having one optic functioning, he tried to activate his HUD, dreading what he would find out.

By some miracle, his HUD was undamaged and the results that it displayed were FAR worse than he dared to dream.

The human finally finished sealing off the primary energon leak and had turned his attention to something else.

"OH SHIT!"

He heard from the human as he found gasoline leaking from his ruptured fuel line. The fuel leak worried Barricade a LOT. While energon was not particularly volatile in and of it self, it COULD however be detonated by burning fuel. Such explosions could and have reduced even the toughest and strongest mechs into scattered piles of mangled, twisted and sparkless scrap.

Barricade tried to scream again as the human dealt with the ruptured fuel line in the same manner as he had the primary energon conduit.

"OK, well the hell was I? Oh yeah, stoppin' that blue shit from leakin' out."

Barricade was forced to continue watching as the human ruthlessly but effectively crimped off all of the remaining energon leaks.

Now that he was no longer losing energon, more power would slowly become available to try to bring other systems online. Although most of his diagnostic systems were damaged, they still told a very grim story. Almost every actuator and motivator in his chassis was either damaged or completely offline. The only movement that would be available to him was part of his right foot, IF he still had an intact energon conduit, but there was no such luck.

_**How did I get hurt this badly?**_ Barricade wondered to himself. He tried to access his most recent memories, but apparently that too was damaged and in need of repair.

_**Why can't I remember anything before waking up with this human on top of me? Did the human do this to me?**_ Barricade tried to asses the sum of what he did know. _**My name is Barricade. I am a soldier of war. I do my job well and take great pride in that. I am one of the best at hunting and killing the enemy.**_ Here Barricade was forced to stop in confusion. _**Who is the enemy that I am so good at killing? If I am so good at it, then how did this happen to me? Was it the humans? Are they the enemy that I am supposed to eliminate? No, that can't be right. They are small and ineffectual organic creatures with limited technology. They could not have done this to me without assistance of some kind. Then who or what is my true enemy?**_ Barricade knew that he didn't have the answers to these questions, but maybe the human did.

The human had apparently finished what he needed to do because he climbed off Barricade's frame and left. Barricade began to wonder if his unknown enemy had returned and scared the human away when he heard the sound of a diesel engine starting up.

_**Is he just going to leave me here to die slowly?**_Barricade thought. When he heard the vehicle begin moving closer to his position, he felt a sense of relief. He heard the human doing something but with the damage to his audios, he was unable to determine what. The human return with a device that began vacuuming up the massive pool of energon that was on the ground**. **_**Good. I'll need that later**__._ Barricade thought.

The human then took the vacuum away somewhere, and Barricade heard the whine of a powerful but aged electric motor along with some older sounding hydraulics. Next was a rather large thump that was more felt then heard through the concrete that he was lying on. Now he heard the rattle and clank of heavy chains. The human then moved back into his limited field of vision and began wrapping some fairly thick chains around Barricade's torso section.

_**Did the humans do this to me after all? Are they my enemy? Am I now to be a helpless prisoner?**_

These along with a hundred other questions raced through Barricades processor as the human engaged the winch. As his body began to be pulled onto the bed of the wrecker Barricade felt such a surge of agonizing pain flow through his entire chassis that he was forced offline to avoid permanent shutdown.

The human didn't know where the hell this thing came from, but he did know that he had to get it under cover and FAST! A giant robot would not go unnoticed for long. He finished winching the robot carcass on to his flat bed wrecker and started putting tarps on it to hide what it was. As soon as he had the mech secured, he jumped in the truck and drove like mad to his salvage lot outside Mission city.

During the entire drive he kept looking in his rearview mirror to see if the other one was coming back to finish the job it started. The human looked down at the camcorder lying in the seat next to him, and shuddered in apprehension wondering if he had really gotten the entire fight on tape. He couldn't help but recall the events of the past hour as he drove home. He had been getting the empty construction site on camera to gain some new ideas for his shop, when a squad car pulled in to the lot and began to flip out before it impossibly stood up! As he stood there frozen in absolute shock staring at the 20 ft mech, a huge silver jet from some kind of sci-fi flick came roaring out of the sky and did the same thing as it landed on its feet!

Then amazingly, impossibly the huge silver robot spoke in English. The voice was harsh and metallic, with far more cruelty in it than would be humanly possible.

"**Speak Barricade. Why did you call me here when my hour of victory is at hand?"**

"**Lord Megatron, we should enslave the humans rather than exterminating them. They will prove to be very useful in the reconstruction of Cybertron."**

"**NO! After being experimented on, and taken apart by these worthless fleshlings, I will reclaim the All Spark and use its power to exterminate the entire PLANET!"**

"**But most of them are not even military, and have no combat skills."**

"**Then they will be just that much easier to kill, and eliminate!"**

"**They are civilians! NOT SOLDIERS! When I swore to fight this war for you, it was on the condition that I would never be forced, or even ordered to make war on civilians, and you agreed!"**

"**NO MORE BARRICADE! IF YOU WILL NOT JOIN ME IN EXTERMINATING THESE HUMANS, THEN YOU WILL JOIN THEM IN OBLIVION!"**

With that last comment the silver one had somehow fused his arms, (at least the human thought that they were arms) together and fired off some kind of energy blast. Again and again the huge mech had fired on the smaller one until all that remained was a smoking pile of twitching scrap metal leaking that weird glowing bluish silver fluid everywhere. He had waited until the silver one had left before running over to the beaten robot.

Barricade, that was its name, Barricade. The human had no idea as to exactly what was going on but it wasn't good whatever it was, and as far as he knew this beaten pile of scrap was Earths only chance at getting out of this mess.

The human had taken one look at the mech and knew that whatever that stuff was it had to be vital. So he had started with those leaks first. The first one he had tried to shut off had sprayed all over him, and the stuff was starting to burn by now, and for all he knew it was most likely radioactive. _OK if it kills me then it kills me, at least I'll go out trying to save someone or someTHING that can save the world! _The human thought to himself. Pulling up to the only gate into his salvage yard the human jumped out and opened it up. Pulling the wrecker in, the human decided that some privacy was in order. Closing the gate and setting the cables he turned on the juice to the modified electric fence. While the power level wouldn't actually kill someone, the poor fool that got nailed by it, wouldn't be getting up without help from EMS.

The human's mind raced trying to think of what tools he would need to try to fix a giant robot from who knew where. The human pulled straight into his shop and hit the remote to close the bay doors. Then he hit the release on the winch and started tilting the flatbed up to drop the large mech onto the lift of the oil-changing bay. Killing the truck, he jumped out and grabbed the shop vac, whatever that stuff was the mech was going to need it back. He started rummaging through his shelves looking for one thing in particular. There it was the ⅛ micron filtration system that he had bought at a clearance sale for a scientific company. _That should do it! _He thought! He poured the strange liquid into the filter and started it up. Then he grabbed some wire strippers and electrical tape, along with a large roll of copper tubing. Dropping all of these things next to the mech, he then ran and grabbed a soldering iron, cutting torch, two-pound sledgehammer, and a crow bar. He was going to need all of these things to even have a slim chance of getting the thing working well enough to figure out how to fix it.

The human started by splicing the severed and sparking wiring and taping that up good and sealing it with a hot glue gun.

About three and a half hours later, the human knew that it was time to try and fix that plumbing problem with the glowing sludge in it. Making one last visual check of the wiring in what he considered to be the upper chest area the human discovered one last set of damaged wires that were sparking in time to that pulsing blue glow in its chest, whatever it was. Reaching in to deal with the problem, the human slipped and his arm came in to contact with Barricades spark. Normally, when a transformer is badly damaged the spark automatically repulses any and all attempts at any type of bond, this time was different. The human was still coated in what Barricades automatic systems identified as its own energon and therefore misidentified the human as a severed part of Barricades chassis. The human felt a very strange pulling sensation in his chest as he came into contact with the strange glowing blue object, just before he passed into unconsciousness.

Unbeknownst to either of the two unconscious souls, both human and decepticon, Barricade's spark was in full bond mode attempting to reintegrate the human in to Barricade's systems. The humans living energy was being pulled in to the spark of the fallen mech, even as that energy was being replaced with the enduring energy from the spark, forming a complete circuit, the energy flowed from one to the other and back again, in essence linking their souls and forging them, fusing them into a single soul split between two bodies. Among the Autobots such bonds had many titles depending on the depth and strength of the bond, also dependant was whether or not the bonded individuals were of same or opposite gender, and Brother Bonds were rare but not unknown among the Autobots but were almost unheard of among the decepticons. Spark Mates were more common between both groups.

Ironhide was rolling quietly down the street less than 100 meters from the entrance to a run down salvage yard. This location was definitely the source of the intermittent sub-space static. Ironhide made a visual check of the other Autobots who were providing backup for this op. Bumblebee was directly opposite him approaching from the other direction. Optimus was slowly making a stealth approach from a side street. All three Autobots transformed as silently as possible knowing that this could well be a decepticon trap.

Optimus ordered Ironhide to lead the way using visual combat signals in order to maintain transmission silence. Ironhide easily stepped over the five-foot barbed wire fence, which appeared to be electrified by some means judging by the insulators that the strands were mounted to. Proceeding through the salvage yard in silence was difficult to say the least; junk, scrap, and rusted chunks of various metals were scattered everywhere on top of pea gravel, making stealth almost impossible. Ironhide was therefore forced to watch where he put his feet. Bumblebee was finding it just as tough to avoid using the only trail through the junk yard as it winded its way around the yard several times before arriving at the shop in the center of the yard. Optimus was having much less trouble thanks to his advantage in size; he was still forced to be careful though as stuff was haphazardly piled everywhere. _**If I didn't know better, I'd swear this stuff was placed like this deliberately to delay intruders and provide an alert in case of an invasion.**_ Optimus thought to himself as he studied the strewn piles of scrap.

Bumblebee was the first one to reach the side of the structure at the center of the salvage yard. The scout took a quick visual through a dirty window and the scene inside the building nearly made his spark freeze. Inside the shop there was a mech laid out on the floor with out a single plate of intact armor. Most of the chassis was so twisted, melted and mangled that Bumblebee was unable to determine just who it was, or from the appearance, who it had been. What was worse was the sight of some human on top of the fallen mech wedged in the spark chamber, and judging by the energon glow surrounding both the human and the mech; it was likely that both were beyond hope.

Seeing that stealth was obviously no longer needed, Bumblebee called out to Optimus.

"**Sir! We need Ratchet out here NOW!"**

"**Yo, what's up Bee?"**__Ironhide asked as he started overcharging his plasma cannons.

Seeing that his scout had abandoned even a pretense of stealth, Optimus quickly made his way to the nearest window to appraise the situation himself while questioning his scout.

"**What is the problem? Are you damaged?"** Then as both reached a position to see for themselves.

"**PITS OF CYBERTRON!"** Ironhide shouted, he was so shocked that he actually forgot to maintain the charge on his cannons and they lost all power shutting down completely.

"**Primus preserve us all!"**__Optimus was so stunned by what he saw that his remark was a mere whisper.

Optimus quickly contacted Ratchet over subspace. **"Old friend, I know that what you are trying to do is important to all of us, but there is someone here that won't survive without immediate help."**

"**Well who is it this time, and are they dead?"**__Ratchet queried in his typical grumpy style.

"**To be honest Ratchet I don't know. I can't even tell if it's Autobot or Decepticon."**

"**Well then what can you tell me?"**

"**Only that by some impossible miracle of Primus, it's still alive."**

Ratchet heard the horrified tones contained in Primes vocal processor, and snorted through his vents.

"**Surely, it can't be that bad Optimus?"**

The reply that he received from his long time friend and leader shocked Ratchet into action. **"We may all very well wish that its spark had extinguished before being found, before this is over, my friend."**__Optimus replied gravely.

Ratchet knew then_**, **_that however bad he thought it could be, the situation was far worse. Ratchet quickly grabbed what few tools had been provided by the sector seven personnel, and stowing them in his various compartments rolled out at his top speed. There were times when resembling a human emergency response vehicle came in handy, and this was definitely one of them. With lights flashing and siren blaring at an ear shattering 130 decibels, Ratchet made his way to Mission City at an astonishing 178-mph!

Back at the salvage yard Optimus pulled up the bay door in order to get a better look at the shredded transformer. As he ducked down to enter he spotted nine one-gallon jars filled with energon and another sitting under some sort of filtration device that was still being filled with energon that was being processed.

Horrified that one could lose that much energon and still retain their spark Optimus looked over at the torn mech. That is when he saw the human lying on top of it. The he realized that the human was in contact with the fallen mechs actual spark itself! Knowing better than to interfere, Optimus radioed Ratchet again.

"**Ratchet there is an unconscious human in contact with the spark of whoever it is."**

"**PRIMUS! Get that human out of there NOW! Don't try to touch either of them directly, use some type of nonconductive material like a board, or wooden pole. If they are somehow spark bonding, then the energy discharge caused by anyone that tries to interfere may well kill BOTH of them!** **Just try to separate the actual contact point, as soon as direct contact is lost the process will cease, and you can safely move one of them."**

Having heard Ratchets orders through the open link, Bumblebee quickly looked around for something that might suffice. Spotting a small stack of 2x4s he snatched up two of them and prepared to use them like oversized chopsticks to move the humans arm out of contact with the transformers spark. Both Optimus and Ironhide watched with great concern as Bumblebee performed the delicate task. All of the Autobots present knew when he had succeeded because the obvious glow of energon died down the instant that contact was broken.

All three Autobots performed scans of both the human and the mech to see the results. That both were unconscious did not surprise any of them. That the spark pulse of the melted and mangled mech was weak but as stable and steady as granite did. They first looked at each other, then back at the mech in question, and conducted the most detailed scans their sensors were capable of making. As the results of their scans revealed the crude, and obviously makeshift repairs using what were clearly human materials, the Autobots could not believe their sensors! Optimus quickly scanned the human's facial patterns and began scouring the Internet to determine just who he was. When he received the results, he was even more surprised. He was not a member of sector seven, he wasn't even a certified mechanic, or certified ANYTHING unless you counted his mental issues as insane!

Optimus went over and gently picked up the unconscious human and carried him over to a somewhat clean area and laid him down where Ratchet might work on him without causing further damage to the Cybertonian nightmare in the center of the floor. Hearing the impossibly loud sirens Ironhide knew that Ratchet was getting close, and ran outside to try and clear a path for him. Flinging scrap and rusted metal out of his way Ironhide quickly blazed a trail to the gate just as Ratchet reached it.

"**Where are they?"** Ratchet demanded as Ironhide met him at the entrance. Not bothering to slow down below 50-mph Ratchet headed into the building and skidded to a stop just inside the door. Transforming he saw the human and gave him a cursory scan, he was unconscious, suffering from a moderate case of energon poisoning, but otherwise in no immediate need of attention. Ratchet now turned his attention to…

"**Sweet merciful Primus!"**__Ratchet whispered as he reset both his optics and sensors. In all his 17,260 vorns, Ratchet had never even heard of anyone surviving a third of this much damage.

Spotting the tools and materials nearby Ratchet realized what the human was about to attempt. Scanning the unknown transformer for the first time Ratchet saw what the human had done and instantly knew that somehow the human had been there when the damage was done, and was intelligent enough to stem the flow of energon almost immediately. Ratchet wanted desperately to wake the human and question him, but there wasn't enough time. **"Sweet merciful Primus!"**__He repeated as he realized that the poor sparks pain receptors were still active. None of the others dared ask any of the questions that were burning their processors just yet, but they knew it wasn't good at all. Ratchet deactivated the pain receptors and started to turn his attention else where when he heard the human groan as he started regaining consciousness. Seeing that the mech was stable for the time being Ratchet decided that it would be best to gain some insight along with answers from the human.

When he came to, he was lying on the floor of his shop._ What the hell am I doing on the floor; last thing I remember is workin' on that robot. _He thoughtThen he looked around to get some clue as to what had happened and spotted the four mechs inside his shop. Three of them were able to stand in what he had considered a huge workshop, but the fourth was clearly kneeling by necessity of size. One of them was approaching him as he labored to his feet. Seeing the small by comparison, but still large robot coming towards him, and having no clue as to which side they were on he decided to fight first and question later as he grabbed a large three-foot long Gorilla bar from a shelf nearby and gave it a twirl to get a feel for the balance. He then moved to meet the mech.

Seeing the human grab, what he obviously intended to use as a melee weapon and approach him in an extremely hostile manner, Ratchet was forced to reset his optics in disbelief for the second time that day. Being quick on his feet and even faster with his hands, Bumblebee raced over and grabbed the crowbar before the obviously deranged human could employ his improvised weapon against Ratchet.

"**That's not being very friendly, you know?"** Bumblebee queried to the human as he stepped back with the weapon firmly in his grasp.

"How the hell do I know you're friendly, you overgrown bucket of walking bolts!" The human quipped in reply**. **

Optimus looked over to the human and responded. **"We do not harm humans, and we are here to help. The one you were about to attack is Ratchet, our Chief Medical Officer, he came in response to my summons to help whoever it is that you were also trying to save." **

Unnoticed by all an aged Wolf/German Shepard mix chose that moment to wake up, and spotting Ironhide walked over to him and began checking his scent. Detecting the hybrid Ironhide immediately powered up his cannons and said "**If you dare lubricate my foot I will terminate your miserable existence!"**

Now the human was pissed! Snatching his crowbar back from the mech that had taken it, his move was so sudden and unexpected that Bumblebee didn't have a chance to tighten his grip. The human stalked toward Ironhide with immeasurable rage clearly visible in his every move. "TOUCH ONE DAMNED HAIR ON HIS BODY, AND I WILL BUST YOUR CREAKY, OUTDATED, OBSOLETE, RUST PACKING ASS INTO SPARE PARTS! DO YOU HEAR ME YOU BASTARD SON OF A VIRUS RIDDLED MICROCHIP? I WILL BUST YOUR ASS UP!"

Hearing the human start shouting at what had to be maximum volume, Ironhide couldn't help but redirect his attention back to the human in question. Giving the human a quick scan revealed that respiration, and pulse were dangerously high. A deeper scan revealed that his blood pressure had shot up to 190 over 160! This organic was, as they say PISSED! Seeing what was about to happen, Optimus rapidly intervened. **"Ironhide stand down, Ratchet tend to the human. Ironhide I said stand down NOW!" **

Optimus wasn't one to raise his voice often, and the Autobot that had heard him do so was hard to find. The fact that he had just yelled at Ironhide shocked him into doing as Optimus demanded, just as the cause of the predicament lifted his leg and let fly before returning to his pallet in the corner of the shop and slowly getting down onto his side and promptly went back to sleep.

"Touch him and I WILL be using your remains to fix my busted friend over there!" The human growled in a tone so menacing that even Optimus was taken aback by it.

Mostly out of curiosity Ratchet scanned the hybrid that had caused the current standoff. **"Leave the canine alone Ironhide**, **its spark only last a few more years, and it was completely unable to hear your warning." **Turning back to the human Ratchet queried **"why have you not had the creatures joints recalibrated? They are in dire need of such treatment." **

That question threw the human for a loop. "Say WHAT?" he asked.

Hearing the rise in volume Optimus intervened again. **"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves. I am Optimus Prime, I have told you of Ratchet, behind you is Bumblebee, my reconnaissance officer, the one you threatened is Ironhide my weapons specialist. We are Autonomous Robotic Life forms from the planet Cybertron, Autobots for short, and we are friends. May I ask your name in return?" **

Looking at the oversized bot crouched down to fit inside his shop, the human didn't need to be told that this was the leader of the strange group, and hearing the calm and somewhat reserved tones that Optimus typically employed went a long way toward calming him down a bit. _What the hell, why not, even if they are teamed up with that other one maybe I can get them to fix what's his name. _ "Name's Daniel Hurst, I run this here junk yard, and that old hybrid over there in the corner is Chinook."

From Ironhide**, "He lubricated on my leg." **

"Yeah well, take it as a compliment, and one you probably don't deserve at that, he usually turns trespassers in to his personal chew toys, so you got lucky. Oh and one more thing, never mind the wolf, beware the owner." He warned.

With hostilities now somewhat in check Ratchet decided that now would be a good time to get back to his patient.

"**Do you happen to know what his name is, and how this happened? The reason I ask is because I have never seen anyone receive such extensive damage and survive as long as he has." **His attention snapped back to his project at hand, Daniel walked over to where Barricade was stretched out on the floor of his shop still offline.

Remembering what had occurred at the construction zone, Daniel wasn't about to be as trusting as these bots expected. "First, how do I know that you aren't really here to wipe us out? You got some way to prove you're friendly?"

Optimus was about to respond to that question when Bumblebee interjected.

"**Would members of your own military vouching for us satisfy your doubts?" **

"HMPF! What ya gonna call in the Marines?" He asked with more than a little sarcasm.

"**As a matter of fact they are US Army, not Marines, formerly stationed at SOCCENT Air force base in Qatar."**

At this all four Autobots would have sworn that the human had just reset his optics, along with all of the rest of his cranial functions, as he turned to face Bumblebee. "You gotta be shittin me! You're really gonna call in the Troops?"

"**Yes, they are currently holding position a short distance away in case their help was needed." ** Bee replied calmly.

Less than convinced but willing to call the bluff Daniel said "OK Call 'em, just let me kill power to the fence first. "

"Don't bother! We're already here." came a voice from the doorway. Five heads, four Autobot and one human swiveled in unison toward the doorway to see Capt William Lennox and Sgt. Epps casually leaning against the frame on either side of the garage bay door. Daniel started snickering upon seeing them standing there as if they owned the place.

"Ok, you got past my electric fence, trip wires, pea gravel and my scrap pile alarms without getting zapped or making noise, yep, you guys are DEFINATELY US Soldiers!"

"He's the only one that's a Joe, I'm in the Air Force." Sgt. Epps piped up.

With a shake of his head after spotting the uncounterfeitable military ID's Daniel replied "Still if you guys say their cool, it's fine by me."

Sgt. Epps spoke up before Capt Lennox could even open his mouth "Now these guys are cool, but those other ones ain't good for nothin but target practice if you ask me."

"Cool" Daniel replied before turning back to Ratchet. "I don't know if it's actually his name, but a big assed bastard that he called Megatron addressed him as Barricade just before busting him all to hell and back again with some kind of BFG for about a good twenty minutes for refusing to wipe us out with some All Spark thingy, what ever the hell it is. So I decided to fix him up as best I can 'cuz as far as I knew then, he was the only thing trying to stand between us and extinction."

Hearing a strange sound to his left Daniel turned to see Ironhide, cannons fully powered up taking aim at Barricade. So fast that no one had a chance to say anything, and even before Ironhide himself could even fire his precious cannons, Daniel leapt towards him and using the Gorilla bar that he was still holding, wedged the long curved end into Ironhide's right knee. Viciously throwing his entire body weight to the left, Daniel managed to partly separate the hydraulics in Ironhide's leg causing him to roar in pain as he fell over. That is when all hell broke loose. Three Autobots reacted simultaneously, Bumblebee tackled Ironhide scrambling desperately for those massive cannons, knowing that he now wanted to kill both the hybrid, the human, AND Barricade. Ratchet was trying to immobilize the human without injury and without further exacerbating the situation. Optimus was once again yelling, only this time it was for EVERYONE to stand down. Still in the doorway, Capt. Lennox and Sgt. Epps could only stare in total shock at the chaos before them. Bumblebee finally succeeded in pinning Ironhide's cannons to the ground making sure that they were pointing in a safe direction, just in case the cannon happy mech decided to fire anyway. Ratchet was not finding his task nearly as easy. Daniel had such a grip on the crow bar that it almost seemed as if his hand had fused to it, and considering how fast the human had taken Ironhide down, Ratchet considered this a distinct possibility. Seeing that their friend needed a little help Sgt. Epps stepped in and grabbed the guy in a full nelson, Thinking that would render him harmless, only to learn otherwise when he felt the crowbar knock him upside the head. Even though he couldn't put any real power behind his swings, he still came close to knocking Epps out cold due to the sheer size and weight of the crow bar in question. Before Sgt. Epps could get hit a second time Ratchet finally managed to get a solid grip on the salvage operator's weapon of choice.

"**IRONHIDE DEACTIVATE THOSE CANNONS AND STAND DOWN NOW!" **Optimus thundered for the fourth time. **"AND YOU, LET GO OF THAT WEAPON AND STAND DOWN AS WELL! EVERYONE NEEDS TO CALM DOWN!" **

"**Optimus you can't be planning to stick up for that Decepticon scum after what happened to Jazz can you?" **Ironhide asked in exasperation.

Optimus didn't even hesitate before quietly asking. **"Are we now to become our enemies the Decepticons by killing prisoners who are so helpless that they can't even speak to say nothing of defending themselves?" **Appalled by the tones of disappointment in his leaders voice Ironhide responded in the only way he could that would provide a satisfactory answer, he deactivated his precious cannons and put them away. Upon seeing that the others weren't going to let the oversized gun-wielding maniac go Terminator on Barricade, Daniel released his death like grip on the crow bar.

Realizing that he was now in sole possession of the weapon of enraged destruction Ratchet took the opportunity to examine the oddly shaped tool. **"What is the designed purpose of this?" **He asked of Daniel, after Sgt. Epps had released him and was rubbing a small knot on the side of his head.

"It's a high tensile strength pry bar, that's been designed to give maximum leverage." Here he snickered. "ESPECIALLY when you put your weight behind it." Glancing at the downed Ironhide to emphasize his point.

With far more humility than was usually heard from him, Ironhide spoke up and asked **"Well now that you know WHAT he used to disable my hydraulic system, do you think you can find a way to FIX it?"** The tone was still grumpy but not nearly his usual self.

"**NO! Not only am I going to leave you that way for a while, But I may just take some extra time to recharge before getting around to you. Serves you right for trying to kill a patient under my care! You just better thank Primus that the human got to you before I did, or I would have reformatted you into a salvage processor, AFTER dismantling every cannon in your impressive arsenal." **Ratchet replied in his typical grouchy attitude when dealing with a patient.

"You better thank these guys for grabbing me when they did, cuz I was gonna pry on yer head until it popped off like a friggin cork! And don't think I can't do it either, I can see how you guys are put together, which means I can tell EXACTLY where your vulnerable points are. Case in point, you ARE on the ground where I can get to your head." Daniel responded glaring at Ironhide throughout his tirade although the last was stated with a malevolent grin.

Finally realizing just what had happened, and that Ironhide truly was unable to get up, Capt, Lennox asked Daniel "Where were you when we were fighting several guys even bigger than him three days ago during the attack on Mission City?"

"Huh? When did this happen? How bad was it, and why the hell haven't I heard anything about it before now?"

From Sgt. Epps was heard "What do you mean? It's been all over the news, TV, cable, even the radio. Man they haven't talked about much else, where have you been?" At this point Daniels stomach interrupted with a VERY loud and obviously unhappy gurgle of hunger.

"Dude, I watch TV like nobody's business and my radio is almost always on, and I haven't heard squat about ANY of this." He said walking over to his truck and grabbing his order from What A Burger that he had picked up for lunch. Grabbing his strawberry shake and taking a large gulp from it, he quickly spit it out, gagging horrendously. "What the FUCK?!" he yelled when he was finally able to speak again after catching his breath from nearly puking. Opening the bag containing his food, he saw that the fries were dried and hard. Pulling out the burger and unwrapping it he saw that it was growing some VERY nasty looking fuzz of several different colors ranging from black to grey and even green.

With a look of complete and utter revulsion mixed with disgust, Sgt Epps asked "DAMN man, how long has that shit been in your truck?"

Looking for all the world as if he had just lost what was left of his mind Daniel replied "I just bought it a few hours ago before picking up a camcorder at the pawn shop on South Main, and then I went to the construction zone where they are putting in those new condos. That's when I saw the fight from some sci-fi flick go down, grabbed him, brought him here and then the next thing I know, I'm pickin my ass up off the floor and you guys are here."

At this explanation, he received several strange looks from both the military personnel and Ratchet. Quietly Sgt. Epps said "Man that shop was totaled in the fight, and that was three days ago." Concerned Ratchet now conducted a detailed and thorough scan of the human, his findings indicated that the human had been rendered unconscious for slightly over three days while in continuous contact with Barricades spark, and he informed Daniel of such.

Upon hearing Ratchets detailed explanation of spark bonding and the ramifications of the process Daniel needless to say had quite a few questions to be answered.

"Wait a damned minute here. Do you mean to tell me that I been having sex with a robot from who knows where in outer space for the last three days and I didn't even get a damned lube job or a fuckin thank you when it was over?! Oh, fuck And now I am supposed to be some kind of soul brother to a robot from space? So does this mean that if he dies I'll die too? And if we are as tightly linked as you say then why didn't he wake up when I did? Why is he still out cold? And WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW??"

Before Ratchet could answer, they all heard the whine of straining servomotors originating from Barricade, Needless to say, all attention was now focused on Barricade. With the damaged wiring to his vocal processor now, temporarily repaired Barricade was now able to speak. **"I am online and have been so since you awoke earlier, although I am at a loss as to how to appraise this situation, I do however find it disturbing to say the least." **Barricade spoke in a rasping and lisping voice indicating that there was other damage to his vocal processor. **"I would like for someone to tell me why I have no knowledge of ANY event prior to reactivating with that squishy human on top of me, making his excruciating repairs, and NOW I find out that I am a spark brother to this disgusting fleshling?" **

"Squishy? SQUISHY?? I know for a fact that there are some bones in my beefy fat assed carcass that will go crunch! My skull happens to be hard as a rock and according to some people may even be SOLID rock, so I KNOW that that alone would at least make SOME kind of loud crunching sound!" Daniel replied in his typical manner. At this Barricade was forced to chuckle, and much to his surprise, he was finding that he was beginning to like this human in spite of his shortcomings and fragile organic flesh.

"**Optimus, we need to get him back to Hoover Dam so that I can begin repairs on him, I would not be able to work on him here, the tools are primitive and inadequate and it is too cluttered and COMPLETELY unsanitary! Besides This location will not be safe for much longer since he was broadcasting that static pulse from this spot for three days, so the rest of the Decepticons could be sneaking up on us as we speak, and with Ironhide down we might be hard pressed to hold off whatever reinforcements Starscream may have been able to recruit." **This statement immediately brought outraged replies from both Ironhide and Daniel. Surprisingly Ironhide's angry protests that he could still fight were drowned out by the human. The sheer volume coming out of his vocal orifice was such that even Bumblebee was forced to widen his optics in appreciation at the number decibels.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN PRIMITIVE? I HAVE DAMN NEAR ANY TYPE OF TOOL YOU COULD ASK FOR, AND AS FAR AS PARTS GO, IF I AIN'T GOT IT, I CAN DAMNED SURE MAKE IT FROM SCRATCH! NOT ONLY DO I HAVE THE RAW MATERIALS BUT I HAVE THE TOOLS AS WELL, NOW YOU SHOW ME ANOTHER REPAIR BAY THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO CLEAN THAT GLOWING CRAP THAT CAME POURING OUT OF HIM AND DUMPED ALL OVER THE GROUND! COME ON, SHOW ME ONE, I DARE YOU! CUZ I KNOW DAMN GOOD AND WELL THAT YOU CAN'T! SO YOU KNOW DAMN GOOD AND WELL THAT YOU OWE ME AND MY SHOP AN APOLOGY! SO LET'S HAVE IT RIGHT NOW DAMNIT!" Daniel roared at the top of his lungs.

Taking a good look around the shop for the first time since his arrival, Ratchet noted the abundant supply of tools, ranging from common sockets to the more exotic 60 inch crescent wrench normally only found on oil rig sites, then on one shelf Ratchet spotted the King Scan Brinnel hardness rating unit. Realizing that this was a highly specialized piece of equipment designed to measure the tensile strength of metals and alloys, Ratchet was forced to admit that the shop was no where near as primitive as it appeared at first glance.

"**Hmm, it would seem that you are right about the available equipment. However, it is STILL unsanitary, and is therefore no place to treat a patient, and with Barricades sub space transmitter pulsing static from this location for the last three days, it is also not safe."**

Upon seeing that this grudging admission was going to be as close to an apology as he was likely to get from the grumpy mech, Daniel decide to change the topic.

"OK, so where we gonna take him, and what do you plan on doing with him? " gesturing at Ironhide.

Ratchet scanned Ironhide's knee joint and saw that he could safely transform but would still be immobilized in his alternate form by the hydraulic damage.

"**He can transform into his vehicle mode but will need to be towed. Barricade will need to be transported in a supine position due to his injuries. This means that we will need to call in additional transport."**

"Vehicle mode? What the hell is that? What you mean all of you guys turn into something else? So what do all of you turn into?" Daniel asked curiously.

Bumblebee decided to answer that question.** "Well, Ironhide there, The one you don't seem able to get along with is a GMC Topkick 6500, Ratchet is modeled after an ambulance manufactured by Hummer.**

**Our leader Optimus Prime is an '88 Peterbuilt, I am a 2009 concept Camero, and Barricade is a police issue Saleen modified Ford Mustang"**

As the black and yellow Mech began to run down the list of who changed in to what, a grin appeared on Daniels face, and as the mech continued his eyes and grin got wider and wider.

"OK hold on just a sec, I got a souped up hot rod of a squad car for a brother, and picked a fight with ONE HELL of a big ass truck. OK." The he looked at Optimus and said with a chuckle "Well, I can see that you're built like a Mack truck, I just didn't know that it was LITERALY!"

Then to Ratchet he said, "OK, so we need to get out of Dodge like now! I get it. So if you guys can pick up Barricade and put him on the bed of that wrecker I can strap him down and cover him with some tarps. Then I can drop the tow bar and load up Ol' Tackleberry over there. . . "

At this comment Bumblebee started laughing so hard that he had to sit down before he fell over, and seeing this reaction Daniel asked him in disbelief "What? You telling me that you've seen Police Academy?" Bumblebee still laughing could only nod his head in reply. At this Daniel looked around at each of the four functioning mechs and then at the two soldiers and was obviously about to ask several questions when he shook his head and mumbled under his breath "I don't even want to know."

Finally getting control of his laughter, Bumblebee Looked over at Daniel and asked **"Wouldn't people question a tarp covered cargo?"**

"Nah!" Daniel replied "Wreckers routinely cover up cars that are so badly twisted, and smashed up that it's obvious no one survived, like when the poor sap inside has to be scraped and cut out of the wreckage, which means they never get all of the remains out, so salvage yards are always having to hose the things down under high pressure to wash out what's left of the occupants. It can get pretty gruesome so no one really wants to know exactly what's under wraps in a situation like that. Plus as low as Barricade's profile will be under those tarps, folks are gonna think it was nailed by either a freight train, or a semi, in which case they'd get pukin' sick if they DID see it. So no, ain't nobody gonna ask any questions about it."

Capt. Lennox was quick to agree "I have to admit that he's right, once they see how smashed down those tarps are no one's going to want to know what under there."

Ironhide however balked at the idea of being treated like scrapped refuse **"NO! Ain't no way am I gonna be towed anywhere by him, It'd be just like him to ram me into one of those freight trains he was talkin about."**

"Hey! Let's get one thing straight from the jump! You don't like me ,and I don't like you either, especially with you coming in to MY house and starting shit, and as far as I'm concerned you are nothing more than a trigger happy gun crazed psychopath who needs some serious lessons in manners. YOU are the one who came barging in to MY home uninvited and started waving your big assed guns around trying to shoot anything and everything that caught your eye or whatever the hell it is that you use for one. And that is not only EXTREMELY rude, It's also illegal, and it's the kind of behavior that's liable to you and your friends killed real quick!" With it presented in those terms Ironhide reluctantly conceded the point

"**It didn't have to lubricate on my leg" **he said more than a little sullenly.

"You don't know much about dogs do ya? He was claiming you as part of HIS territory, and he will aggressively defend what he has claimed as his, from both people and other dogs."

As Ironhide began to transform mumbling something about being lubricated by every canine on the planet, Ratchet and Bumblebee were trying to gently load Barricade onto the flat bed wrecker without causing any more damage than necessary. Fed up with Ironhide's incessant complaining Ratchet told him, **"You really do have cannons on the CPU! That creature just swore an oath to defend you, and you respond by trying to terminate him in his own home no less! I have half a processor to reformat those weapons of yours into medical scanners! Now stop complaining and let me work!"**

Once Barricade loaded and strapped down Ratchet placed him into stasis lock. Getting in the cab, Daniel cranked up the truck and backed over to Ironhide and began hooking him up to the tow bar. Seeing that everyone was ready to leave Optimus suggested that everyone follow him.

"Just a second" Daniel said as he went to collect his wolf from the corner and loaded him into the back seat.**  
**

13


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Transformers © Hasbro

Disclaimer: Transformers © Hasbro! OC, & plot © me!

Author's note: Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate the feedback, as you see from this chapter I DID listen. :) and I know some of you readers want me to write some more, Believe me, I am because those blasted plot demons won't leave me alone.

As Optimus transformed in to his Peterbuilt mode Daniel could only stare with a really

big and stupid looking grin plastered on his face, "Now THAT"S a Big Rig!" Daniel said in obvious admiration. Sgt Epps and Capt. Lennox had to smile at the comment even though they had fought and bled beside their rather large friends, as well as having spent the last three days getting to know the Autobots, they were still impressed with the Autobots as well.

"Hey! How are you fixed for communication?" Sgt. Epps asked Daniel, always thinking of the important things.

"HAH! Dual CB's and half dozen police scanners, I can keep track of damn near anything that goes on in this town. I'm on CB channel 13, you might want to use that and standard CB lingo in case one of those bad one's is monitoring the military frequencies" Daniel replied with a slight hint of smugness.

"**That is actually a sound idea. Any Decepticons in the vicinity would tend to monitor those frequencies first, and very few of us, Autobot and Decepticon alike would be able to monitor ALL of the frequencies that humans employ." **Optimus interjected.

Clearly impressed at the quick thinking of what most people would take to be an uneducated junk man, Sgt. Epps had to smile. "But why channel 13?" he asked more than a little puzzled.

"Because no one wants to have anything to do with the number 13, so they don't use it. Therefore there won't be anyone to over hear anything we say."

"I Got ya." Sgt. Epps nodded with a smile as he headed toward a truly bad ass looking Camero and got into the passenger side, Capt. Lennox was driving since rank does have its privileges.

As the perfectly maintained but still older styled custom Rig headed toward the front gate, Daniel pulled his wrecker in behind it. In his rear view mirror Daniel saw the Hummer built search and rescue pull in after him and the Camero taking the rear guard position.

_This is one hell of a weird little convoy. _Daniel thought to himself as he watched eight Deuce and a half military trucks loaded with troops take up flanking positions to the rear of the apparently civilian vehicles. As they passed one of the troop transports Daniel spotted the hardware that the men were packing. _Holy shit! Those are 40 mm. M-79 grenade launchers, and the have nothing but Sabot Rounds! These guys are ready for 'War of the Worlds' Literally! _ Daniel knew then that when they got where they were going, he was most likely to be in very deep shit since the US Govt. was obviously going to want to know everything he knew, where he got his information from, how he found out about them, who he had told, and what could he prove, that is if they didn't just lock him up and melt the key. Because they sure as hell wouldn't throw it, away on the chance that someone might find that key someday.

The troops in the back of the trucks were giving him the usual weird looks that he always got when he had his wolf with ridding with him, but he was used to that, even though he still got a kick out of it. They were nearing the outskirts of Mission City when Daniel grabbed the CB mike.

"Break on one three, Break on one three, Junk Man to Fly Boy got your ears on?"

(Clear channel 13, Fly Boy this is Junk Man, can you hear me?)

Laughing at the handle that the salvage operator had given to him Sgt. Epps immediately

Responded "That's a big 10-4 Junk Man, read you wall to wall and tree top tall. Come back." (I hear you loud and clear, what do you want?)

"I'm gonna have to break for a choke and splash here pretty quick, and since we got no bugs on the glass or bears on the ass, this'd be a good time for it." Daniel stated in a genuine Texas drawl.

(I need to stop at a convenience store for some gas and food, and since there is little to no traffic, cops or otherwise, this would be a good time to do so.)

"10-4 Junk Man just pick your poison, Fly Boy out." Sgt. Epps told Daniel over the CB and then he told Bumblebee what was going on so he could relay the information to the others.

Daniel signaled to pull in to the next filling station, which was a Shell station, and pulling straight up to the diesel pumps, he jumped out, and swiping his card with one hand uncapped the front tank with the other, and began filling that one. Next, he uncapped the rear tank and walking around to the other side of the pump swiped his card again and began filling up the second tank.

With both fuel tanks now being filled, he walked into the store and headed straight for the section of the cooler containing the energy drinks. Using the front of his shirt as a makeshift basket Daniel started by grabbing three each of the Java Monster Russians, Mean Beans, and Loca Mocas. He also snagged three twenty-four ounce can of Full Throttle, before grabbing a one-liter Mountain Dew. Then he grabbed a pair of large Starbucks Mocha Frappaccinos, and using his teeth to tear the plastic off the first one held his shirt in his mouth while uncapping it. Switching his shirt back to his left hand he then downed the coffee in one long drawn out swallow. Now holding both his shirt and the empty bottle in his left hand, he quickly walked through the store grabbing four one-pound bags of Richter's Beef Jerky, half a dozen Slim Jims, and a one pound bad of Nacho flavored Doritos. Approaching the register, he dumped his haul onto the counter and telling the clerk to scan the empty Frappaccino bottle twice and add a carton of Marlboro Reds in a box, he tore open the second one and downed it in the same speedy manner as the first.

"Uh, these aren't normally sold as a package like this." The clerk told him, referring to the bags of jerky.

"I know, but they usually average about forty bucks a package when you sell 'em piece by piece, so how bout a price of forty-five bucks sound?" Daniel asked trying to be fair.

"I'll have to call and ask the manager." She said picking up the phone. As the clerk was explaining the situation to her manager, Daniel looked outside to see just how antsy the military troops were getting. They were obviously not too happy with the delays, but what the hell, they were working on taxpayer dollars after all.

"The manager said forty-five is fine." The clerk told him.

"Good. Ring 'em up cuz I'm in a bit of a rush." Daniel replied.

Leaving the store with his snack attack from hell, Daniel checked the pumps.

Seeing that there was twenty-one gallons on the first one and nineteen gallons on the second one, Daniel decided that it would do. Holding his swag in one hand and hanging up the nozzles with the other Daniel make short work of closing up his tanks and getting back in his truck to hit the road.

Ironhide was worried knowing that most salvage yard owners were reputed to be alcoholics, so Ironhide scanned the contents of Daniels shopping bags, what he found disturbed him even more than if he had found the human version of high grade energon.

"**PRIMUS IN A PIT!" **Ironhide yelled in Cybertonian over a secure link to Ratchet,

"**This crazy human plans on sucking down enough caffeine to kill a HERD of horses!"** Ironhide wailed in near panic as the wrecker was pulling back onto the road with him firmly in tow.

Concerned Ratchet quickly scanned the wrecker's interior with his far more sensitive scanners, then horrified at his discoveries, he scanned the wrecker's driver.

Finding that the human had already consumed far more caffeine than was healthy, and was still chugging it down, Ratchet decided to contact him. Accessing the web Ratchet quickly downloaded the CB nomenclature and put it to use.

"**Break on one three, Ratchet to Junk Man, you got your ears on?"**

"That's a big 10-4, Ratchet come back." Daniel replied without hesitation.

Since there was no way to put such things in to acceptable CB slang, Ratchet got right to the point.

"**You're drinking a LOT more caffeine than any two people would consider wise. Would you mind slowing down on it?" **Ratchet asked trying to be diplomatic about it.

"Hey! There are three things you do NOT lecture me about, and those are in no particular order, caffeine, nicotine, and sugar! Just about anything else is open to discussion." Daniel shot back without even bothering to use the CB slang.

Seeing that this was a topic that would set the volatile human off again, Ratchet decided to opt for discretion and let the subject rest until they got back to Hoover Dam.

Realizing that Ratchet wasn't going to keep nagging at him Daniel went back to his third Java Monster, and beef jerky, occasionally handing a chunk of it to the wolf in the back seat.

Daniel was finally getting full by they time they rolled up to Hoover Dam. The little convoy was checked, cleared, and then directed straight into the NBE 1 chamber.

Daniel lit a smoke and hopped out of the cab and motioning for the wolf to stay put he began unhooking Ironhide from the tow bar. Seeing Ratchet coming up to him, he asked where they were going to put Barricade, without pausing the process of disconnecting the chains hold Ironhide in place.

As he approached the strange little human, Ratchet did a thorough scan and was stunned by the results. He reset his scanners and tried again. In disbelief, he scanned the cab of his truck and found that all nine of the Java Monster cans were completely empty, and that he was now working on the first of the Full Throttles. Ratchet was dumb struck.

He would have sworn later that his processor had shorted out for a brief moment as he tried to analyze the implications of what this meant. Just to be absolutely certain he scanned the weird little man again, with the same results, vital signs were slightly elevated but well within normal range!

_**This human has a higher tolerance for caffeine, than Ironhide has for packing cannons! No wonder he is so aggressively hostile! **_Ratchet realized distressingly.

Neither Daniel nor Ratchet noticed the approach of Agent Simmons, who ever a stickler for rules, regulations, and protocols, immediately demanded a full report and briefing.

"OK, I want to know what that is on the tow truck there, who you are, and why Ironhide had to be brought back on a junked out tow truck that looks like it should have been crushed years ago!" Simmons demanded angrily gesturing at each subject in turn.

Pulling a four-foot Gorilla bar out of its appointed spot on the back of his wrecker, Daniel turned to answer this blow hard with an attitude.

"Well on the back of MY wrecker, looking like he's been through a blender is Barricade, who got that way trying to stop some jackass named Megatron from killing every last person on earth, I am Daniel, the salvage operator, that saved his life, and Ironhide had to be towed back here because he pissed me off, and I busted his big ass down a little with a crow slightly smaller than this one!" Daniel said casually holding up his weapon of choice for the man to see.

"Yeah, and in addition to taking Ironhide down and forcing him to be towed or crawl back, he clocked me pretty good too. So do us ALL a big favor and don't piss him off." Sgt. Epps said with a slight grin as he rubbed the still sore and large knot on the side of his head.

Seeing that all of the Autobots, along with the members of the Special Forces Teams were giving the newcomer a very wide berth, and were definitely not eager for a second encounter with the crow bar wielding stranger, Simmons decided, for once, that discretion was the better part of valor.

"Good enough for me." He said beating a hasty and somewhat fearful retreat.

Hearing that strange sound behind him to his right, Daniel turned to see Bumblebee sitting on the ground and shaking in uncontrolled laughter. Shaking his head at the laughing yellow mech, Daniel turn to Ratchet.

"So, where are we going to resurrect Frankenstein's creation?"


	3. Chapter 3

Optimus and Ratchet were carrying Barricade into the area that Ratchet was using as a med bay, what really stunned Daniel was the fact the Barricade was still strapped down to the wrecker

Author's note: I have been checking the reviews, and I will correct chapter one as soon as I get a chance. Thanks for all the kudos Folks. More notes at the end of this chapter. In the mean time I hope that you enjoy this installment.

Optimus and Ratchet were carrying Barricade into the area that Ratchet was using as a med bay, what really stunned Daniel was the fact the Barricade was still strapped down to the wrecker! Bumblebee was helping the injured Ironhide to hobble in to the room as well.

Chinook? Hah, he was bouncing from one open window in the truck to the other, popping his head out the windows, looking down at Daniel to make sure that he was still following his wrecker. The poor wolf was definitely confused, for one thing, what was his ride doing floating twelve feet in the air? Another thing that had him thrown for a loop was the fact that these trucks could WALK! Now he knew that the truck that he was in belonged to him! There was no doubt about that, and he also knew that no weakling human was going to get anywhere NEAR his truck without being chewed to shreds. The problem was humans weren't carrying his truck, other trucks were, and that just defied what he believed to be the natural order of things. Trucks existed to give him and his human a ride, to go when they wanted to go, and to go where they wanted to go. So he did the only thing he could do, run back and forth trying to watch everything that was going on, and guard his truck.

Daniel couldn't help but snicker at the wolf's confused antics; after all, the entire situation had him more than a little on edge as well. When Capt. Lennox and Sgt. Epps had passed their weapons to another soldier to be placed back in the weapons locker and invited him to join the entourage heading to the improvised med bay, His confusion had grown by leaps and bounds. He didn't want to think about the small locked interrogation room that he knew, just KNEW was waiting for him sometime in the very near future, so he decided to go along for the ride and see what happened.

Bumblebee had helped Ironhide to an over sized platform so he could sit down. Meanwhile Ratchet and Optimus un-strapped Barricade and gently moved him on to a raised platform that would serve as a bed for the damaged mech. Daniel took full advantage of the opportunity to look at what else was in the room, more than half expecting to see something similar to a warp core straight out of Star Trek. What he did see was a pair of silver mechs laid out on nearby platforms like the one now getting occupied by Barricade.

Without being to obvious about it Daniel took a closer look at the larger of the two silver mechs. It appeared to be somewhat smaller than the Camero known as Bumblebee, but he really couldn't tell since it had been somehow ripped in half, and was still in a state of semi repair. Shaking his head and turning his attention to the smaller of the two silver mechs, he saw that, whatever the hell it was, it was definitely a weird looking little thing. The entire thing couldn't have been more than four feet long and on closer inspection appeared to be missing more than half of what it used for a head. Then the blasted thing nearly scared the shit out of him by trying to speak.

"**Gkk gkk oh shit kkkkk shitshitshitshit occcck okt!" **Frenzy stated trying to repeat the last words he had spoken before losing all motor functions.

Taking all of this in at once was a bit much for Daniel, but he chose to play along until something woke him up. Turning to Ratchet, who was doing some preliminary checks on Barricade, Daniel asked him, "Looks like you could use a good mechanic, do you want an extra pair of hands to help out around here?"

Before Ratchet could form a response, Ironhide piped up with a question, which he actually asked politely for once.

"**Since you busted my knee would you mind fixing it now, so I can get back to my duties?"**

Daniel considered both the question, the one asking the question, and the tone of voice, before making his reply.

"Sure, why not?"

Ironhide was not happy right now; first, a HUMAN of all things had caught him completely off guard. That a Decepticon of similar size would never have survived long enough to get that close to him, was one thing, but when he considered that fact that his cannons were out, charged, and ready to fire, and the human had been twenty feet away and had STILL gotten the drop on him was humiliating to say the least.

That he had been entirely in the wrong was also bothering him, but there was no way he would ever apologize to anyone, it just wasn't in his nature. He could however, try to start over by asking the guy nicely to fix his leg, because even Ironhide had to admit, that taking down a mech of his size would not be easily done, especially with that crow bar, unless you knew exactly where and how to strike. Add in the fact that Barricade was still alive three days after receiving a lot more damage than he had ever seen anyone survive proved that he knew a few things at least.

As Daniel started over to where Ironhide was seated, the Autobot noticed that he was still packing his crow bar, and his optics widened to three times their normal size, and he couldn't help but wince at the thought of what the human could do with that thing.

Noticing the mechs reaction, Daniel couldn't suppress his snort of laughter.

"Relax, I'm just gonna pop that knee back into place and you'll be good as new, won't take but a second."

Ironhide couldn't help but feel some trepidation as Daniel examined the damaged knee, and he was too busy watching Daniel to notice that everyone else in the med bay had turned to watch what was going to happen.

Daniel took a close look at the busted knee joint and sure enough, one of the hydraulic lines was repositioned to prevent movement, much like having a tendon out of place in a human knee, it wasn't serious just incapacitating.

Carefully positioning his crow bar into the knee, Daniel looked up at Ironhide with an evil grin and told him, "Feel free to scream at any time." Then before Ironhide, or anyone else for that matter, could react, Daniel began. With a quick wrench of the crow bar to the right and cackling like a maniac he dove for cover, the hydraulic line was back in place, and sure enough Ironhide screamed in agony as he jumped around holding his knee, that he was also using the knee in question didn't occur to him for several seconds, until he heard Ratchet roaring in laughter.

Ratchet was scanning Ironhide's knee even as Daniel hauled on his crow bar and dove for cover under the platform that Ironhide was just sitting on, finding that the hydraulic lines were indeed back in place and that Ironhide's knee was once again functional, Ratchet couldn't help but laugh at the antics of the Weapons Specialist.

It wasn't that Ratchet was cruel, because he most certainly wasn't. He just didn't like being put to extra work because of stupidity on the part of someone else. Had Daniel deliberately caused further damage to Ironhide's knee, Ratchet would have come unwound. What Ratchet found funny, was that although the technique that Daniel employed, while admittedly painful, was faster than and just as effective as the method Ratchet himself would have used. Still, it wasn't necessary to cause a patient further pain while treating an injury.

"**Nice repair job, but next time I suggest that you deactivate his pain receptors first." **Ratchet told himafter Ironhide finally quit his yelling.

"You know that ain't a bad idea. Why don't you show me how to do that one day?"

Daniel quipped in reply. Then turning his attention back to Ironhide he said, "You and I got off to a very rocky start, and what's done is done, we caint change it, but what we can do, is move on from here." Daniel pointed his now infamous crow bar at Ironhide as he continued. "You and I seem to have at least two things in common, we both have a serious attitude problem, and we both have hair triggers. Now if things keep going like they're going now, then one of us is gonna get messed up bad, and I'll be flat honest with ya, I'm gonna make damn sure it ain't me. So what do you say to putting this mess behind us and startin' over?" Daniel asked Ironhide.

After some thoughtful consideration, Ironhide responded guardedly. **"That's fine with me, as long as you keep that crow bar away from me!"**

"Fair enough." Daniel replied. Then to Ratchet, "OK what's next?"

Ratchet seeing that he now only had three patients to deal with instead of four; decided that he might have some decent assistance after all. **"You can get up here and help me with Barricade."**

At this Daniel gave Ratchet a very dirty look and said,"What, you expect me to fly?"

"**Would you accept a lift?" **Optimus asked kneeling down and holding out his hand.

Looking askance at the massive hand that Optimus was offering, Daniel would have sworn that it was a good five feet across, which meant that those fingers were about a foot thick. Talk about HUGE! With a negligent shake of his head, Daniel stepped into the large hand that was then slowly and carefully lifted to a level even with the platform on which Barricade lay.

After stepping onto Barricade's improvised operating table, Daniel started to once again asses what parts would be needed and what substitutes could be used. After getting some up close looks at how an INTACT Cybertronian was articulated, he now had some more informed ideas on what needed to be done to get Barricade up and running again.

"OK, where do you want to start?" he asked looking up at Ratchet.

"**We need to start with the primary and secondary energon lines, but the problem is I can't seem to find suitable manufacturers for replacement parts online." **Ratchet told him.

"Hmm, YO! Bumblebee, can you hand me that tool box off the back of my truck?" Daniel asked the yellow mech while still looking at Barricade's damaged energon lines.

Bumblebee being the type that is ever willing to lend a hand, looked at the truck with some amount of confusion, there was only one tool box on the back of the wrecker positioned just in front of the winch, and he had no idea how the human would be able to carry it. It was the kind of toolbox that went across the entire bed of the truck. With a negligent shrug, the sturdy mech grabbed the truck box, not the specified toolbox that was inside the truck box, and set it on the platform next to Daniel.

"**Here you are." **

"Mm, Thanks." Daniel said intending to reach down and open a toolbox that was much smaller than the one that was beside him. Seeing his truck box sitting there beside him was surprising to say the least, but undaunted, he opened the chest and got out a smaller tool box that was actually human portable, and holding it up to show the yellow mech he said with a smart assed grin,

"I can carry this one." Before snickering ruefully. "I'm gonna have to remember to be a little more specific with these guy's." Daniel said to himself.

Setting the smaller toolbox down and opening it up, he grabbed a small black case that was five inches wide by eighteen inches long and a half-inch deep. Opening the case he brought out a precision dual micrometer, which could measure both internal and external diameters in increments of 1/1,000 of an inch. Ratchet was unable to suppress a look of surprised interest as he spotted the precision instrument. Daniel started by measuring undamaged portions of both sizes of energon lines. After getting those measurements, he looked up at Ratchet.

"You didn't even think to check the auto part sites did you?" He asked with some humor.

"**Yes I did, and there are no lines available that are an exact match for what we need."** Ratchet responded irritably. _**What? Does he think that he can just show up with less than ten vorns of lifetime experience and teach me how to repair Cybertronian systems? The gall of this human! Those energon lines need to be able to tolerate high pressure under certain conditions, and the materials are going to be second rate at best! **_Ratchet thought, becoming more than a little angry at being spoken to like a sparkling.

"They don't have to be an exact match, just close enough to use a compression fitting to form a coupling. Then we can take the time to make proper replacement parts that DO fit properly." Daniel said.

"**But can they hold up to high pressure tolerances? I don't need him blowing an energon line the first time he tries to move." **Ratchet queried.

"We use 'em all the time on high pressure hydraulic lines for bull dozers, back hoes, and drilling rigs. So yeah, it'll hold up fine. They just need to be replaced every couple of years, but these are just temporary until we can make more permanent parts right?"

Ratchet was silent for a few moments as he considered the both the suggestion and the possible complications involved. Ratchet was also contemplating the man himself, as he accessed the web for various reasons. He was not only checking up on parts, materials, and available specs, but also checking out Daniel in specific and junkyard operators in general. The information he found only caused him more confusion and questions. He decided that this example of salvage operator was an exception to the rule, an anathema if you will. Deciding that his questions would have to wait, Ratchet turned his attention back to Daniel.

"**OK what parts do we need and where do we get them?" He asked.**

"Well that's gonna depend, I mean, how are you guys fixed for cash?" Daniel asked in return.

Completely misunderstanding the question, to say that Ratchet got pissed would be an understatement for the history books, both human, AND Cybertronian!

"**WHAT? ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU INTEND TO CHARGE US FOR REPAIRS AFTER YOU FIXED HIM? WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO DO GET HIM JUST ONLINE ENOUGH TO TALK TO HIM SO THAT YOU COULD THEN EXTORT MONEY OUT OF HIM! THAT IS BEYOND DISGUSTING AND DESPICABLE! NOT EVEN THE MOST HONORLESS OF THE DECEPTICONS HAVE EVER STOOPED SO LOW! IT'S OUTRAGEOUS! AND I AM COMPLETELY DISGUSTED BY THE THOUGHT THAT I WAS BEGINING TO LIKE YOU!" **Ratchet bellowed in pure rage.

The rest of the Autobots, although they might have had similar feelings on the matter, were stunned by Ratchets outburst, which was unusual even for him.

Digging a finger into his right ear in a futile effort to dispel the annoying ringing that followed Ratchet's roar, Daniel was still nonplussed as he squinted up at Ratchet and clarified his question.

"I was referring to the cashiers at the parts stores, because they're not going to let you have anything on looks. Although Ironhide would be a different story, especially if he starts waving those cannons of his around, then they'd probably just pass out and let him walk out with the stuff."

Capt. Lennox and Sgt. Epps fell on the floor laughing their buts off and holding their sides. The Autobots for their part were dumbstruck with shame; even Optimus had experienced a brief urge to kill the human when he too misunderstood the question.

For his part seeing that the ringing in his ears was NOT going to go away anytime soon, Daniel just stood there laughing at the dumbest expression that he had ever seen.

Ratchet was mortified, not only had he misinterpreted the humans question, and intent, but had actually thought of several methods of killing Daniel, the only thing that had stopped him from actually doing so, was the indecision over which method to use.

This was the scene that greeted the eyes of Agent Bannacheck and Secretary of Defense Robert Keller, as they entered the room flanked by a bevy of aides.

Looking around and seeing the sheepish expressions on the faces of the Autobots, and the humans laughing their heads off, SOD Keller, was mystified.

"What in blazes is going on in here? I just received a report that we have another one of those Decepticons in custody, and here I find, I don't know what, but it doesn't look good. Now I want to know what's going on." SOD Keller demanded.

Needless to say, all laughter was cut short, along with any comments that the Autobots had been about to make as everyone turned towards the speaker.

Turning to look at the new comers, Daniel did a double take. It took him a few seconds to recognize just who this was, and when he did, he realized that he might just end up over his head. Never one to back down from much, Daniel asked him, "Do you want their long version or my short one?"

"Your short one will do fine after you tell me who you are." SOD Keller said agreeably.

"Name's Daniel, and three day's ago I saw Barricade here get his ass turned into scrap for tryin' to talk some jackass called Megatron from wiping us off the planet, because he didn't like wagin' war on civilians. So Megatron handed him his ass, after shooting it off with some damned BFG straight out of a video game. Now me an' Ratchet here are gonna fix him up and let him join our little party." Daniel told him bluntly.

Seeing that Daniel wasn't the type to blow smoke up someone ass to try and curry favor, SOD Keller laid it out plain and simple.

"Look these folks have been at war for several million years, from what I've heard, and I don't think there is any way that any of 'em are gonna change over night. Now I appreciate what you think you saw, but unless you can show me some kind of proof, then I don't wanna discuss a damn thing other than how to keep him under wraps for good." SOD Keller replied candidly.

"Fair enough." Daniel said. Turning to look at Ratchet, he said, "Don't move!"

Before Ratchet could respond, or question the order, Daniel promptly proceeded to use the big medic as a makeshift ladder to climb down from the platform, and walked over to his truck. Once there, he reached into the front seat only to jump back as if he'd been struck by lightning. Chinook could be clearly seen by everyone in the room lunging at Daniel in an attempt to cause serious bodily injury if not death! Daniel had barely reacted in time to keep his arm and now stood looking at the wolf/shepherd mix waiting to be recognized. Once Chinook saw who it was reaching into his truck, he laid his ears back and wagged his tail. Daniel patted him on the head and scratched his neck before reaching in to grab a video camera from the front seat, along with another Full Throttle.

Walking over to SOD Keller's group, Daniel held up the camera, and asked,

"Will a video of the entire conversation and following ass kicking from hell satisfy you?"

"You got it on tape?" SOD Keller asked in disbelief.

"Yep. The whole thing, an I'm gonna warn you, it ain't pretty, even if it does look like some reject from a George Lucas movie." Daniel said seriously.

Turning to one of the aides, Agent Bannacheck gave orders to retrieve a TV and RCA cable from an adjacent room, then turning back to Daniel, Agent Bannacheck decided it was time for some quick introductions.

"I am Agent Thomas Bannacheck, and you might recognize the Secretary of Defense Robert Keller." He said reaching out to shake hands.

Tucking the camera under his left arm Daniel shook hands with each in turn.

"Nice to meet you." He said being polite for once.

The aide returned wheeling in a large TV with a 52' screen on a roller cart and set it up in a corner so everyone, Autobots included could easily see the screen. Daniel connected his camcorder, and before he hit play, he decided a second warning was in order.

"Like I said a minute ago, this is kinda gruesome, especially when you consider that the victim is laying on that giant table over there still alive." He told them, just before he hit the play button.

As everyone watched the tape, the initial reaction was one of anger. As they heard the conversation, this quickly turned to horror as they watched Megatron, using his fused arm cannons, continued to fire mercilessly at Barricade more than a dozen times after he was down, trying to literally blow Barricade in to tiny pieces.

There was a shocked and horrified silence in the room when Daniel stopped the tape.

"**Pits of Cybertron! I don't think even (untranslatable) could take a pounding like that and survive."** Ironhide said in a hushed voice, awe and horror clearly vying for dominance.

What had been witnessed on the tape was so shocking in fact, that Optimus actually had to sit down on the floor before he fell over. Looking around the room, the humans noticed that ALL of the Autobots were having trouble dealing with what they had seen.

Some of the people present were unable to understand the reaction, since Barricade was still the enemy. Seeing the confused expressions, Daniel came up with an analogy that they would understand.

"Hmpf. Try taking the ten year old son of the most hated world leader, skin him alive one small piece at a time, treating each fresh cut with salt water. Then after you've removed all the skin, you take a red-hot knife and carve his guts out slowly. Now strangle the kid using his own intestines. Then you might have a fair human equivalent of what they just saw."

Daniel said softly.

"Me and Ratchet are gonna try to make repairs, but getting parts will be a little bit of a problem." Daniel stated.

At this SOD Keller spoke up, anger clearly present in his voice, "Good! I don't care what it takes; you get him up and running again. Anyone that takes a pounding like that in defense of civilians can't be all bad. Let's make one thing clear, you work for me, and will answer only to me, or Agent Bannacheck, if you need something, or think you need something, you just speak up. From now on, your top priority is to make sure these folks are taken care of, that means keeping 'em in top shape, safe, and secret. Understand?"

"Absolutely! Speaking of secret, these guys aren't gonna be able to come and go from here without someone taking notice eventually." Daniel replied.

"What do you have in mind?" Agent Bannacheck asked with interest.

"I have a nice sized chunk of land about fifty miles from here that will be perfect. Secluded, off the beaten path, and easily secured."

Daniel said with a grin.

"And just how secure is this place, and what makes it better than this location?"

SOD Keller asked.

"It's an old nuclear missile launching facility that was decommissioned two years ago; I bought it at a Govt. auction last year. It's out in the middle of nowhere, complete with fuel storage tanks that meet current EPA regulations. In addition to being designed to survive a nuke attack, the halls and main structures are all big enough to accommodate our over sized friends here. Plus, I have just about all the fabrication equipment that we'll need to get these guys running again." Daniel said a bit smugly.

"Barricade can not be moved in his present condition, and I will not have you or anyone else jeopardizing my patients just because you want to keep us a secret!"

Ratchet said in his typical grouchy manner.

"OH, I agree that he can't be moved anytime soon. I'd have preferred that he stay at my shop, but that static pulse you guys picked up scratches that option. But it still doesn't solve the problem of parts and fabrication equipment. Waitaminute!"

Turning to Ratchet Daniel asked with some excitement,

"You said that Megatron jackass got killed. Where's the body? We can use it to at least get the basic materials even if we have to re-fabricate the parts from scratch."

"The remains of the dead Decepticons are being dropped into the Laurentian Abyss, even as we speak." Said Agent Bannacheck.

"Well put a stop to it! We'll need those snot suckers for spare parts!" Daniel replied.

"That's a damned fine idea; they can be organ donors for our friends here." SOD Keller said nodding in agreement, and pulling out his cell phone to make the call.

Ratchet not being to keen on cannibalizing parts from dead Decepticons voiced his complaints to Daniel.

"That has got to be the most barbaric thing I have ever heard, I doubt even Megatron would do something like that. Have you no respect at all?"

Thinking carefully before opening his mouth because he knew that the big mechs tended to take things a little too literally, Daniel pulled out his wallet and took out his driver's license, and showed it to Ratchet.

"Do you see the little red sticker that says 'Organ Donor'? That means that if I get killed or injured to the point that survival is not possible, then the Doctor in charge is going to get what ever is still usable and give it to someone else that needs it. So far we can transplant the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and even bone marrow. This program is completely voluntary and saves hundreds of lives every year, and I will feel better, knowing that my death may help several other people have a better life. Now if that is what you consider barbaric then go ahead and call me 'Crow Bar the Barbarian'!"

Daniel was putting up his ID and wallet as he waited for Ratchets response.

Ratchet stared hard at the human in utter disbelief. That fragile organic tissues could be recycled in such a fashion was not only a novel concept, but also one that would never have occurred to the Autobot medic. Still not quite believing that the human could possibly be speaking the truth, Ratchet hit the web. What he found there astonished him. Not only was Daniel telling the truth, but also had seriously understated the number of lives saved or improved by the program. It was thousands, not hundreds as he had been told!

As Ratchet was considering the implications of the Organ Donor program, SOD Keller finished his conversation and closed his cell phone.

"Well, unfortunately they've already dumped Megatron over the side, but I put a stop to that real quick. So we have three dead Decepticons left to use as spare parts, and the remains are on the way to this location and will be here in two days time." SOD Keller announced with satisfaction.

"Good! Now all we need to do is keep Barricade going until more permanent parts can be made." Daniel said as he pulled out his cigarettes and lit one.

Daniel had taken three drags on his smoke when Ratchet started roaring at him.

"WHAT IN PRIMUS ARE YOU DOING?! DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCEPTUAL CLUE AS TO HOW MANY DETRIMENTAL AND POTENTIALLY LETHAL TOXIC SUBSTANCES ARE CONTAINED IN THOSE FUMES??"

As cool and casual as can be, Daniel calmly looked up at Ratchet for a few seconds before making any reply.

"Yeah, just under thirteen hundred nasty chemicals including cyanide gas, and ammonia." Daniel said nonchalantly.

Even Ironhide was horrified as he asked,

"Don't you know that can kill you?"

"Yup, It's a proven scientific fact that each one of these things takes ten minutes off the end of my lifespan. Now if you have a problem with it, well, I still have my crow bar handy in case you want to step out side so we can settle this man to machine." Daniel stated matter of factly, as he picked up the implement in question.

"You truly are insane!" Ironhide said aghast.

"Damn! Figured that out all by yourself did ya?" Daniel said with more than a touch of sarcasm as the rest of the humans in the room started laughing and shaking their heads.

When he was finally able to contain his laughter, SOD Keller just had to ask.

"Son, are you one of them bonafide rednecks?"

"Yes Sir. American by birth and a Texan by the Grace of God." Daniel answered quite proudly.

Turning to Capt. Lennox, SOD Keller said, "Just be sure to keep him away from the weapons locker and for God's sake don't EVER give him any guns!"

"Shit! He don't need any damn guns any ways." Sgt. Epps put in, checking the still painful knot on the side of his head.

"No kidding! He's dangerous enough with that pit spawned crow bar!" Ironhide interjected as he once again checked the functions of his right knee.

"Hey, any time you want a rematch, I'm up for it." Daniel said in a good-natured tone, just to see the reaction he would get.

SOD Keller got the shock of his life when he saw a multi ton robot armed with some of the most powerful plasma cannons available to Cybertronian technology take a step back.

"Nope! No! No way! You aren't coming anywhere NEAR me with that thing EVER again! Once was more than enough." Ironhide protested vehemently.

SOD Keller looked at Daniel suspiciously, "Son, I'm getting the impression that your short version of a report was a little TOO short. Now why don't you just tell me what it was you did to terrorize these folks like this."

Knowing that he was about to get his ass in a serious crack Daniel figured that it would be best to shift both the blame and the focus to someone else.

"It's not my fault! I swear, He started it!" Daniel said pointing at Ironhide.

"That is not entirely true Mr. Keller." Optimus said seriously. "Daniel was going to attack Ratchet with the crow bar first, but I will admit, we were in his home uninvited, and he did seem to calm down after we introduced ourselves, and proved our legitimacy with the introduction of your military personnel. It was when Ironhide tried to terminate Barricade that Daniel disabled him with the crow bar, and was going to terminate Ironhide when Ratchet and Sgt. Epps intervened in order to restrain Daniel. I am sorry that Sgt. Epps sustained a minor injury in the process of restraining Daniel."

"Hey! I already apologized for that, and besides, it was an accident!" Daniel said defensively.

"Now look here, your job is now to help these folks, not send 'em to that big scrap yard in the sky! Do I make myself clear? Now I hear any more bout you busting these folks up, and your gonna be swappin' that crow bar of yours for a sledgehammer bustin' rocks for the next fifty years. Got it? Good! Now what do you need to get your hands on to fix that boy up there, what ever it is, you just tell Agents Shultz, and Hopkins here, and they'll have someone to fetch it for you. I want these folks in top shape, and back to factory specs pronto. I DO mean faster than ASAP! Understand?"

"YES SIR!" Daniel said a little loudly, grinning at the blank check he'd just been given for parts and equipment.

Turning to Agents Shultz, and Hopkins, Daniel started rattling off a fairly long and impressive list of parts, tools, couplings, fittings, and fabrication equipment.

"OK, Buddy, let's see if we can't get this scrap yard reject looking like he just rolled off the factory assembly line. IT'S TIME TO ROCK AND ROLL!" Daniel said to Ratchet finally starting to feel the effects of the massive amount of caffeine.

Daniel followed Ratchet back over to the platform on which Barricade lay in stasis lock. When he got there, Daniel climbed up Ratchet's leg as if he was a set of monkey bars. Once he got up to Ratchet's shoulder, he swung himself over onto ratchet's forearm and stepped onto the platform. Ratchet needless to say was less than amused. The rest of the Autobots were looking with double sized optics at the clearly deranged human with an apparent death wish.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO SUCH A THING AGAIN! I AM NOT HERE FOR YOU TO CLIMB ON, NOR AM I HERE FOR YOUR FRAGGING AMUSMENT! DO YOU HEAR ME YOU FLESHY LITTLE SLAGGER?" Ratchet bellowed at the human before him as his optics narrowed to mere slits in his rage.

With a mischievously evil grin, Daniel looked up at the seething Bot before him and said in an innocent tone of voice, "But, but you have all these really convenient and nifty looking hand holds. I just HAVE to try them out."

Capt. Lennox and Sgt. Epps burst out laughing, as the other Autobots knowing Ratchet's temper, braced themselves for the storm to come.

That was IT! Ratchet was fed up. With a wordless roar of rage he raised his arm and tried to bring his fist down hard on top of the annoyance that was pestering him. As Ratchet made his swing Daniel jumped off of the platform and landed on the floor. When Daniel hit the floor, there was a loud wet sounding pop from his knees. Daniel immediately jumped to his feet, and everyone heard the sickening grinding sound that emerged from his knees as Daniel put some distance between himself and the pissed off Bot, laughing maniacally the entire time.

The disturbingly abnormal sound that originated from Daniel's knees caused Ratchet's medical program to enter priority mode. Ratchet was forced by this Program to initiate a full scan of the human for damage. What he found really concerned him. To begin with, the human was not operating with an intact processor! 23 of the human's brain was damaged and malfunctioning. There was evidence of a prior skull fracture now healed. Right clavicle had been broken and improperly fused. Partial joint separation in both shoulders had often resulted in strained musculature, along with pulled ligaments and tendons. There was a small piece of glass embedded in some scar tissue in the right forearm. In the abdominal area, Ratchet found that both the spleen and appendix had been removed early in life. The pancreas had a rubber tube inserted into one of the bile ducts to prevent it from swelling closed and shutting that organ down entirely.

The lumbar spine demonstrated evidence of two fractured vertebra and three herniated disks. The swollen disks applied pressure to a nerve that caused spinal muscles to contract ceaselessly, which no doubt was a constant source of pain. The knees had very little cartilage, and this deterioration caused the ossial formations of his legs to grind against one another. This ossial grinding had been the source of the sounds that had caused Ratchet's scan.

_Primus! No wonder this human is so ornery and annoying! He must live in a constant state of agony, which may cause him to attempt to make others as miserable as he feels._ Ratchet thought. Then came what to him was a horrible realization. _I could have killed him! If he hadn't been able to ignore the pain levels that he must surely be experiencing, I WOULD have killed him! And the damaged portion of his brain is responsible for emotion control and response! He may be completely unable to experience fear at all! And by Primus, why is he still laughing?! FRAG IT ALL TO THE PIT! Why do I always have to deal with a maladjusted personality? _Ratchet thought irritably as he studied the still giggling human.

Seeing that Ratchet was about to blow a circuit, or some type of fuse if he didn't calm down, Daniel chose to lay off just a tad. Looking back at the group of aides still gawking at the scene before them Daniel said, "OK since the grumpy old saw bones here is getting tired of being used as a walking jungle gym even if he IS built for it, why don't one of you guys get a set of roller stairs in here?"

The aide soon returned with the movable staircase and put it in place before locking the wheels.

"Good! Now I can find out how bad he tore up the table." Daniel said, as he moved towards the stairs.

As soon as Daniel started up the stairs, his knees resumed the horrible grinding noise that could be easily heard throughout the room.

"YO Man! Doesn't that shit hurt?" Sgt. Epps asked.

"Nah, only when I go up eight or nine flights nonstop." Daniel replied.

"Hey guy, you really ought to get something done about that." Cat. Lennox told him.

"If you think I am gonna go through a DOUBLE knee replacement surgery just to save everyone else's ears, then you're crazier than I am." Daniel replied with a chuckle.

Upon reaching the top of the platform, Daniel looked around and said, "OK, there is way to damn many distractions in here. I want everybody out, NOW! Except Shultz and Hopkins as long as they can keep their yaps shut. That goes for you too Big Rig, and take Ol' Tackleberry, and Buzz Boy with ya."

This last comment got him a VERY stern look from Optimus. Ironhide was grumbling about not knowing whether being called 'Tackleberry' was an insult or not, and Bumblebee thought the entire situation was just too funny for words. As they were leaving the room Ironhide rounded on Bumblebee and demanded to know who this 'Tackleberry' is. Once the room was cleared Daniel and Ratchet were finally able to get to work on Barricade.

They started by removing all of the damaged armor. Most of it being so mangled and slightly melted that it had to be cut into smaller sections before it could then be pried off of the badly damaged mech. The two had been working on removing destroyed armor nonstop for about twenty-six hours straight when a whole line of people started coming in, bringing some of the parts, tools and equipment that Daniel had ordered earlier. The former Sector 7 personnel had been hitting the auto parts stores, Sears, Harbor Freight, Lowes, pawnshops, and in one particular case even a garage sale in order to find everything that was on the list. But find it they did.

Now that he had a better variety of tools to work with besides what he had brought with him in his truck, Daniel was able to make short work of getting the rest of Barricades armor off.

Four hours later when Daniel had just removed the final piece of Barricades armor, he had to yawn. He couldn't help it. He couldn't stop it. And it didn't matter how much he hated admitting it, or how badly he wanted to fight it. He was tired. Looking up at Ratchet he noticed that the big medic's eyes weren't glowing as brightly as they normally did.

"Is there something wrong? Cuz your eyes are looking like your batteries are going dead or something." Daniel said to Ratchet.

"**My optics are fine, unless you consider that I need to recharge so badly that I am almost seeing double." **Ratchet replied.

Daniel had to chuckle. "I know what you mean, I'm so damn tired, I'm almost seeing double as well. The worst part is we aren't any further towards getting him online again, than we were when we started." Daniel admitted stifling another yawn.

"**I suggest that we stop for now, and resume when we are better suited for detailed work. Because the rest of this process is going to get difficult rather quickly." **Ratchet informed him.

Since they were knocking off for the night, Daniel needed to check on Chinook, but his wrecker wasn't where he had left it. Wondering if he had lost what was left of his mind Daniel took off at a run looking for his truck, and more important to him, his wolf. As Daniel entered the NBE-1 chamber, he spotted his truck sectioned off by a hastily erected fence. Someone had apparently picked up his truck carried it in here and put this fence up. There was a gate that he could get through, and inside the gate was water for Chinook who was out of the truck, sleeping near the gate.

"**You and Ratchet were so engrossed in repairing Barricade, that I thought it best to try and provide for him. I had to use one of your smaller crowbars to work the door handle, in order to let him out. I did remember you telling me that he normally attacks, and when I mentioned this to Agent Bannacheck, he said to cordon the wrecker off so that your wolf could have a little freedom." **Said Optimus from behind Daniel.

"Thanks I really appreciate that." Daniel replied as he entered the enclosure to check on the sleeping hybrid.

"**I am sorry to inform you, but he appears to be reaching the end of his lifespan."** Optimus said gently.

"Yeah, I know. In the wild if a wolves only live to be seven maybe eight years old if they are lucky. This boy here, well he's almost sixteen, so he's made a good long run of it. He's also been a good friend, even if he has been obnoxious at times." Daniel responded as he squatted down next to the sleeping animal.

Waking up the sleeping wolf was a delicate process to say the least, since he tended to bite first and ID later. Once he was awake Daniel petted him, scratched him in the preferred areas, and then went to the truck to get the spare food bowl and bag of feed that he kept there for emergencies.

Certain that Chinook was well taken care of Daniel cracked open the last of his Full Throttles and lit a smoke. Climbing into the cab of his truck he sat down to rest and relax before catching some sleep. He was beat, and the events of the past day had drained him mentally, as well as physically. Reflecting on those events, led Daniel to consider Barricade's condition. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as it first appeared. Granted, all of the wiring would need to be replaced along with the energon and hydraulic lines, but that was where the minor problems were. I few of the joints would need some grinder work to get the molten armor drippings out, but again a minor problem. The REAL problem was going to be the intracranial circuits which were most likely damaged, if the shattered optics were any indication.

Finishing both his smoke and the Full Throttle Daniel lay down in the seat of his cab and went to sleep, knowing that the caffeine wouldn't let him get much more than six hours even as exhausted as he was.

Ratchet emerged from recharge to the sound and sensation of someone tapping a rapid beat on one of his feet. He also could have sworn that someone was singing VERY badly. Activating his optics he saw Daniel tapping away rapidly on his left foot with a pair of box wrenches, and singing "_I want my baby back, baby back, baby back. I want my baby back, baby back, baby back. I want my baby back, baby back, baby back."_

With a wordless snarl of irritation Ratchet pulled his foot away from that supreme annoyance, now known as Daniel. **"Frag it all, I am trying to recharge and I still need another three and a half hours. Go bother Ironhide, besides he deserves it more than I do." **Ratchet said sounding for all the world like he was half asleep.

"Come on Bones. We got work to do, you're a doctor not a Rip Van Winkle. Get the lead out." Daniel said as he finished off a one liter Mountain Dew to start the morning.

Irritatedly scanning the human Ratchet found MORE caffeine in his system.

"**PRIMUS! How the PIT can you handle that much caffeine?"** Ratchet demanded.

"I live on the stuff!" Daniel said with an almost manic grin.

"**URRGH! Just go away." **Ratchet said as he shut back down to complete his recharge cycle.

Not being able to go any further with repairing Barricade, until the deceased Decepticons arrived, and Ratchet woke up, Daniel was bored.

Walking back to the All Spark chamber that had been converted for use as a med bay, Daniel decided to take a look at the other two damaged mechs. Going first to look at the one that had been busted in half. Daniel could see from the damage that it had been somehow torn apart by a massive force pulling in opposing directions! Daniel had seen that the alloys used in the construction of the alien mechs, were both lighter and far stronger than any terrestrial alloy. So he had a least a vague idea of the incredibly horrific power involved to accomplish such a feat.

He knew then that there could be nothing done for this one until the part donors arrived.

Next up was the still sputtering little job that was solidly strapped to the table. Daniel started to examine the little thing and realized that Ratchet must have been working on it when he had to go out to the scrap yard. Since the rest of the severed head was nearby Daniel went to work.

He started by putting it into stasis lock as he had seen Ratchet do to Barricade. Next he placed both halves of the head fairly close to one another. Then began closing the circuit gaps with some spare wiring that he soldered in. Once he had the basic circuits in place he deactivated the pain receptors. Now he could safely weld the head back together. Getting a splintered piece of Barricades shattered armor, Daniel would be able to use it as an improvised welding rod. Going over to his truck box which was still next to Barricade, he got out his flux paste, welding goggles, and gloves. He hauled the bulky oxy acetylene torch over to chrome little mech and after setting everything up, he went to work. When he finished the welding he lit a smoke to let the head cool off before reactivating the weird looking droid.

_Well, here goes nothing. _He thought as he hit the switch to reanimate the now (hopefully) repaired mech.

"**Oh shit!" **That was the first thing out of the little mechs mouth, or whatever it was that he used for one anyway.

"Oh Shit, What?" Daniel asked.

Frenzy looked over at the human that was standing next to him and tried to deploy his shuriken weaponry. When he realized that all of his weapons had not only been deactivated but removed, he repeated his comment. **"Oh Shit! Ooooooh Shitshitshitshitshit t t t t t!"**

Frenzy knew that he was now in really deep trouble. Not only was he unable to utilize any of his weapons, but he was also completely immobilized.

"**Squ squishy kill Frenzy zy zy?" **Frenzy asked knowing that Barricade might not be able to save him this time.

"WHAT? I just spent the last two hours breaking my back putting your busted ass back together! Why the hell would I do that if I were gonna kill you?" Daniel asked getting slightly pissed. "Now if you had done something to piss me off, then yeah, I just might get that damn vindictive. But you haven't done anything as far as I know, so your safe for now. And from the way you phrased that first question I'm guessing that Frenzy is your name right?"

"**Y y yes**. **Name Frenzyfrenzyfrenzy. What squishy name?" **Frenzy replied.

"I'm Daniel, and I think I might have messed something up, 'cuz you're sounding kinda like me on WAY too damn much caffeine." Daniel said chuckling.

**  
"C c ca Caffeine eine! 7-11 Beanbean juice! Rules all! Dom domi dominate All Spark ark k! Coffee cravings!" **Frenzy sputtered vehemently.

"You dink coffee?" Daniel asked incredulously. "OK I'll go get you some coffee. WAIT A DAMNED MINUTE! Are you tellin me you actually LIKE that shit from 7-11? That's some of the WORST damn coffee on the planet! Who the hell turned you on to that shit?"

"**BarriBarriBarricade!" **Frenzy said, wondering if the human was telling the truth about the one thing on this planet that he had come to love.

"Looks like I'd better have a few words with Barricade. In the meantime, I'll be back with some GOOD coffee!" Daniel promised.

Knowing that there had to be some kind of break room in a place this size, Daniel started by heading through the human sized hallways. After forty-five minutes of looking for the break room Daniel was getting frustrated. Finally fed up Daniel snagged the next person he saw and asked directions. It was Agent Simmons.

"Where the hell is the damned break room so I can grab some java?" He demanded.

"It's two doors past the entrance to the NBE-1 containment chamber, but you won't be able to gain access without following the S-7 protocols. We have strict regulations here, and those regulations, and protocols have to be followed to the letter." Simmons informed him arrogantly.

_Oh God, one of those types. This is gonna be FUN! _ Daniel thought as he stepped close to Simmons, putting less than an inch of space between them.

Even though Daniel was about four inches shorter than Agent Simmons, he still had a good sixty pounds of weight advantage, not to mention a mean streak that would put Megatron to shame.

"Now you listen here you sniveling little rat. You print me out those regulations, and a copy of yer protocols so I can wrap one set on each end of my crow bar, THEN I'm gonna shove 'em BOTH up your ass along with the crowbar. SIDEWAYS! GOT IT? Now IF you have any kind of survival instincts left in that pea sized brain of yours you will get me to where I can get me some decent coffee, and I mean NOW! Before I go Darth Everybody on your ass!" This entire statement had been more growled than spoken, and was presented very softly with infinite menace and sincerity.

Simmons eyes just about popped out of his head since he couldn't help but realize that Daniel truly meant every last word of his threat.

"OK, OK, just follow me, we'll get you some coffee, whadaya like? Vente Mochacino? Whatever it is we do have it. I can promise that because we have our own Starbucks here." Simmons rambled nervously.

"Good now speed it up. My caffeine has ten percent blood in it and I am about to have a serious withdrawal attack and get radically violent." Daniel snarled.

"Ok, Ok, it's right in there." Simmons told him.

Daniel walked into the designated room and found that it was a typical Starbucks, so he grabbed a box of chocolate covered coffee beans, and walked to the counter to order.

"Gimme Eight Mocha Frappaccinos!" He ordered.

"OK, What size?" Asked the agent behind the counter, obviously and agent since he was dressed like an MIB reject.

"The biggest damned buckets you can put a lid on." Daniel replied happily.

"ID?" The Agent inquired.

"WHAT? For fucking coffee? You gotta be shittin me! Why the hell do I need a damn ID just to get some coffee?" Daniel demanded thoroughly pissed.

"Sorry but rules are rules, without your government issued ID badge you must PAY for your order." The Agent replied calmly.

_I HAVE to be hearin shit! _ Daniel thought. "Wait, let me see if I got you right, if I get me one of them ID things, I get all the coffee I can guzzle. . . .for free?" Daniel asked the disbelief obvious in his tone.

"OK here, put it on my card." Pulling out his wallet and handing over his debit card.

Grinning like a fox that had been left to guard the chicken farm, Daniel made his way back to the med bay. Walking in to the med bay Daniel said "OK, little guy, I know I promised you the good stuff, and while this is actually pretty damned good, it still ain't the best on the market."

Setting the coffee down next to Frenzy, he walked over to the supplies that had been brought earlier and cut a two foot length of quarter inch vacuum hose. Then going back to Frenzy he said "I can't cut ya loose, but I can give you the coffee. You'll just have to use this hose as a straw."

Sticking one end of the hose into a coffee and the other end into Frenzy's mouth, Daniel got his own beverage out and sat down next to Frenzy to have his coffee and a smoke.

The two of them were finishing off the last of both the coffee and the chocolate covered coffee beans when Ratchet walked in.

"Mornin Bones!" Daniel greeted cheerfully.

"**What in Primus is this 'Bones' you keep calling me?" **Ratchet demanded typically annoyed.

"Bones, short for Saw Bones, slang for Medic. If you ever get a chance to access the internet look up Star Trek. You remind me of Dr. McCoy." Daniel told him.

Well, Ratchet did exactly that, only he did it right then. Downloading all seventy nine episodes in less than a second, Ratchet accessed them just as fast.

"**Hmm, He seems to have saved the ship and crew on more than one occasion. He also seems to have been quite capable in the medical field, and we do seem to share a few common traits." **Ratchet replied thoughtfully.

"YUP!" Daniel agreed.

"**Besides, it's much better than what the others call me behind my back, and they aren't even aware that I know it." **Ratchet said in a conspiratorial tone.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Daniel asked interested.

"**Hatchet!"**

Daniel started laughing so hard that he didn't even notice as he fell off the table, spilling the last of Frenzy's coffee. Understandably this made the hyper little mech madder than hell. Frenzy voiced his extreme displeasure with unintelligible snarls and growls of senseless rage. Daniel had been blocking Ratchets view of Frenzy until he fell off the table. Now, Ratchet saw that not only was Frenzy still online but once again intact, even if he did have a nasty looking weld across his neck and lower jaw moving up his far left optical stalk. To say that Ratchet was surprised was a mild understatement. He had been trying to devise the tools to complete the tiny repairs with his large hands, when he had been called to Daniel's salvage yard.

"**How were you able to work on him when I couldn't? I have been trying to get the materials to machine the tools I needed for more than two of your days." **Ratchet asked in surprise.

"I'd imagine that you would need special tools with hands as big as yours, but we have all kinds of tools that fit my hands just fine." Daniel said sardonically.

Ratchet only grunted in reply.

Frenzy was still sputtering in rage when Daniel's left front pocket started howling off all things. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket he then said to Frenzy

"If you'll be quiet while I'm on the phone I'll get you some more" Not even the Marvel comic book hero Dare Devil could have heard a sound emerge from Frenzy as Daniel answered hi cell phone.

"Howdy."

"Hey Daniel, It's Maigan, you are on your way right?" His niece asked.

"Huh? On my way where? What do you mean?" He asked totally bewildered.

"You know, to the airport, to pick me up?" She asked cautiously.

"But you're not supposed to get here till the sixteenth." Then he remembered the three days that he missed.

"OH shit! I'm sorry Kiddo, I will be there just as fast as I can. I am so sorry. How long have you been waiting?"

"It's not that big a deal, I've only been waiting thirty minutes." Maigan answered.

"I'll call you as soon as I am pulling in OK, and you call me if you have ANY problems."

Daniel looked over at Ratchet, while he was thinking. There was no WAY he was going to pick up his niece from the airport in a beat up, dogged out wrecker. Not happening, He had more respect for his niece than that. Then he got an idea.

"Where's Bumblebee?" He asked Ratchet.

"**In Tranquility, protecting Sam, in case the Decepticons return to retaliate against him for destroying the All Spark and Killing Megatron." **Ratchet replied.

"In that case where's Tackleberry?"

"**First tell me who this 'Tackleberry' is" **Ratchet demanded.

"Access 'Police Academy' on the internet, the movie, not the schools." Daniel told him.

When Ratchet nearly fell over laughing Daniel knew that he had found the info, and started chuckling.

"**That is definitely Ironhide!" **Ratchet said when he finally had control of his vocal processor.

"Now, will ya tell me where he is?" Daniel asked.

"**On his way, I called him for you."** Ratchet said.

"Thanks"

"Morning, Ironhide." Daniel greeted pleasantly.

"**Good morning." **Ironhide returned warily.

"Listen I gotta pick up my niece at the airport, she is spending the summer with me, and I need a CIVILIAN vehicle that can carry some luggage, since I don't have a CDL, I can't take Big Rig, and I am not a certified EMT, so I can't take Bones here either. I'd use my wrecker but there is no way I'm gonna pick her up in a clunker like that.. So will you do me a favor and give me a lift?" Daniel asked while actually being somewhat diplomatic for once.

"**Only if the canine remains here." **Ironhide said, thinking this MIGHT be a way of getting on the humans good side.

"DEAL! Lets move." Daniel agreed readily.

First off, I am sorry that this took so long to get out to you, I am starting chapter four as soon as I am done typing this foot note. I don't like ending this chapter this way any more than you do.

I'm SORRY! I wanted to get Barricade up and running in this chapter but the plot demons are in total control right now, and even though I have tried to bribe them with everything from chocolate to booze, it ain't gonna happen. I even had to delete six pages of the repair process because of technicalities and boringly tedious details. :-( I will take a break later tonight and redo chapter one to make the suggested corrections though. I am really starting to hate these plot demons.


	4. Chapter 4

Oh, Shit

_Oh, Shit. _That phrase kept flying through his processors. _Oh, shit. _There was some strange form of comfort derived from that phrase. That phrase seemed to encompass the entire spectrum of his concerns. So simple, small, innocuous, and yet it engulfed all. When he was reactivated by the squishy, he'd thought that things couldn't get worse. Weapons were offline, purposely deactivated by someone who knew what they were doing. He was securely fastened down to a sturdy surface, with absolutely no possibility of escape. The squishy that had reactivated him had then, by some miracle of Primus, provided him with coffee! This was not the 7-11 coffee that Barricade had allowed him to sample on rare occasions. This was, HAD to be, a creation of the merciful Primus himself! Frenzy was certain that he'd been rejoined with the matrix. That was the only possible explanation. Then the squishy said something that almost overloaded all of Frenzy's processing hardware. "This ain't the best stuff available." Not the best? NOT the best? The squishy's processing must be seriously malfunctioning! This was sublime. This was proof, not only that Primus existed, but also that he was merciful and kind! This was INCREDIBLE! To Frenzy, this was the greatest discovery in Cybertronian history! What was more, it was created by FLESHLINGS! Any species that created such a wonderful concoction, which was in Frenzy's opinion even better than top-notch high-grade energon, had to be blessed by Primus himself. More, the squishy had obviously shared his own supply with Frenzy. The squishy had even implied a threat against Barricade for introducing him to substandard fare! He didn't care what any of the other Decepticons decreed, he would defect.

_Oh, Shit! I CAN defect! I can defect from the Decepticon army, join the squishies! Oh, Shit! I tried to kill the squishies! The squishies will want vengeance. But the squishy gave me coffee!_

THAT was the hydraulic wrench that kept trying to reset Frenzy's thought processes! _Why did the squishy give me coffee, and not just any coffee, but something that is obviously fairly high grade? _No matter how much he analyzed it, the answer refused to present itself, and this bothered Frenzy greatly. Why would this squishy be nice to him?

Still pondering this weighty question Frenzy turned his attention back to what was occurring around him. _Oh, Shit! _Frenzy thought as he saw the Autobot known to the Decepticons as "Hatchet" enter the room.

The human had a brief conversation with Hatchet, then to Frenzy's horror, the human was preparing to leave, after receiving a communication from another squishy! Frenzy was being turned over to Hatchet!

_OH SHIT! Not even Megatron could be THIS cruel! To give a prisoner a taste of absolute paradise and then have them tortured? OH SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT!_

"OH! Hey Bones! One last thing before I go. I got the little guy up and running but he seems a little sputtery, so you might want to check him out before you let him loose." Daniel informed Ratchet.

"**I have no intention of turning that pit fragging Decepticon loose, EVER!" **Ratchet replied.

"HUH? That's a Decepticon? Hmm, OK well then do me a favor, just keep him fixed up with mocha Frappuccinos till I get back and I'll deal with him." Daniel said looking at the mech in question.

After some grumbling, Ratchet finally agreed to keep the Decepticon hacker supplied with the specified coffee. Daniel made a quick check on Chinook as he and Ironhide prepared to leave.

Unable to continue effecting repairs until the slain Decepticons were brought to the facility, Ratchet decided he could use the time to investigate more of these 'movies' that Daniel kept referring to for his nicknames.

Frenzy for his part couldn't believe his audio receptors. Not only had the squishy tried to get him released, but failing in that he gave instructions to provide MORE of that wonderful concoction! Starscream and most of the other Decepticons had indicated that the inhabitants of this world were primitive parasitical organisms with no redeeming qualities what so ever! Yet here was one of these squishy, fragile, fleshlings making sure that, while he was unable to move, access his weapons or the internet, (another fleshy invention that Frenzy loved!) he would at least be somewhat happy. WHY? Unable to come to any conclusions on his own without more information Frenzy knew that he would just have to wait for the answers.

Daniel and Ironhide were about to leave the main facility when they were called back by a slightly breathless Agent Bannacheck.

"Mr. Hurst! Hold up for a moment please." Agent Bannacheck shouted as he rushed to catch up with them.

Turning to see who it was, and realizing that this was one of two people that he had to take orders from Daniel stopped and waited for the man to reach them.

"What's up, Boss Man?" Daniel asked casually.

"I have some paper work and an ID badge for you, especially if you want to be able to get back in here without any hassles."

"Come on Boss, if my crow bar didn't convince 'em, Tackleberry's cannons would." Daniel said pointing his thumb at Ironhide, and hearing the big mech chuckle in response.

Without batting an eye, Bannacheck made his reply. "This will be much faster, even if less enjoyable. Besides, you will need these papers; they identify you as a governmental agent associated with the Office of the Secretary Of Defense, and Homeland security. These papers will get you out of any trouble you MIGHT find yourself in from local authorities. There are also insurance papers for each of the Autobots as well."

"Holy shit! Thanks!" Daniel said slightly dumbstruck. Then another thought crossed his mind.

"Hey listen I lost track of time while uh . . . stuff was going on, and my niece just got in to town. She is one hell of an electronics expert, and I think Ratchet and I can really use her help. She's a good kid and knows how to keep her mouth shut." Daniel said earnestly.

"Would that be Maigan Brewer?" Agent Bannacheck asked.

With a REALLY stupid look on his face, Daniel asked, "How the hell did you know that?"

"We ARE the Government you know. Sure, I've checked out those nearest to you, and she can be trusted. Her mother however does not tend to keep secrets from people for any reason, and should therefore NOT be informed. I'll ready the paperwork for her when she arrives." Agent Bannacheck said seriously.

"Cool." Daniel said taking the Badge and papers.

Once outside the main structure, Ironhide transformed into the ever impressive and REALLY big GMC Topkick 6500. Looking at the truck that was barely under the limits of being classed as a commercial freight vehicle Daniel was once again impressed with it.

Climbing into the cab with a black leather interior, XM satellite radio system and plenty of other creature comforts, Daniel couldn't help but remark "DAMN! Now THIS is a hell of a truck! I'm telling you man, you picked one hell of a kick ass ride for a disguise!

Ironhide could NOT believe his audios! This human hadn't even given his highly advanced and incredibly powerful cannons a second glance, but was instead highly impressed with his alt form? NOW Ironhide knew for certain that the human's processors were cracked!

With out giving Ironhide a chance to even think of driving himself, Daniel grabbed the steering wheel and then putting the powerhouse truck in gear, popped the clutch and laid rubber for the airport. As the massive thirty-four inch off road tires broke loose, a loud roar could be heard from the massive intercooled supercharged diesel engine under the hood, not to mention the torturous wail of the tires, as Daniel laughing like a kid turned loose in a candy factory floored the accelerator. The tires had only been spinning for a second and a half when Daniel could hear pebbles hitting the undercarriage of the truck. Letting off the gas Daniel let the big truck roll forward slowly, giving the truly massive cloud of burnt rubber time to clear out in the breeze. What he saw in the side view mirror caused his jaw to drop. Instead of leaving skid marks on the pavement, Ironhide's tires had actually eaten their way into the asphalt leaving a pair of matching ruts in the road!

"HOLY FUGGIN SHIT!" Daniel yelled looking at the damage to the road, his native Texan accent showing just how amazed he was. "DAMN! Talk about burning up the road! HOLY SHIT! DUDE! You are one awesome TRUCK! I mean DAMN! That is friggin NUTS!" Daniel exclaimed as he tore off down the road at a SLIGHTLY more reasonable speed.

At this point Ironhide knew, just KNEW that it was not going to be a good day. Daniel made good time getting to the outskirts of town, but then who would have thought that a truck as big as Ironhide could hit 210 miles per hour! As he approached Mission City limits Daniel dropped to just a hair under the speed limit.

"Man! Talk about a wild ride, that was AWESOME! Dude, YOU ROCK!" Daniel exclaimed still feeling a massive adrenaline rush from the sheer speed that Ironhide was capable of.

Confused, Ironhide asked, **"Are not your own vehicles of this design able to achieve such speeds?"**

"What? HELL no! Not without some kind o' rocket engine strapped to the bed." Daniel said laughing. "I'll say it again Buddy; you are ONE hell of a ride." Forgetting all of his animosity towards the alien mech in his excitement.

Pulling in to the airport, Daniel had a bit of a hard time trying to find a parking spot big enough for the massive Topkick. He finally found one, at the far end of the parking lot of course.

"Hey wait for me here will ya? I'm just gonna go get Maigan and we'll be back in a few minutes ok?" Daniel asked, patting the hood in a friendly manner.

Without waiting for a response, Daniel took off at a fast-paced walk toward the terminal entrance. He found his niece standing just outside having a smoke.

"Oh god, Maigan. I am so sorry. It's been crazy for the last few days. I promise I'll explain everything, but you're just gonna have to trust me for now, because you will NOT believe what's been happening." Daniel said apologetically while gathering up her luggage.

"I was kind of worried that mom wouldn't let me come, what with the terrorist attack and all. She almost didn't." Maigan said with some relief.

"Well I'm glad you're here Kiddo, I've got some new friends that you just HAVE to meet! They are totally awesome. You're gonna love 'em, I promise." Daniel said with a grin.

"Uh huh." Maigan said skeptically.

Upon reaching Ironhide's parking spot Daniel immediately started putting Maigan's luggage in the back seat. Maigan was staring at the massive Topkick with bugged eyes and an open mouth.

"Oh my GOD! Uncle Daniel please! You gotta let me drive it, come on, PLEASE! I mean this is one way cool truck! I just have to drive it, just once please. I'll never bug you about it again, but please, you have to let me drive it one time." Maigan said pleadingly.

Daniel started laughing as he replied, "I'd be happy to let you drive, but it's not mine. I will however point out the one you gotta talk to for permission. Besides, coming here is the first time I've driven it myself."

"Well then are you going to buy one of these?" Maigan asked hopefully.

"I really wish I could Kiddo, but this here truck is a one of a kind. And that's the honest to God truth." Daniel told her earnestly.

Daniel finished loading Maigan's luggage in the back seat, and then he noticed what she was wearing, and frowned.

"OK You might not like me for this, you can even hate me for this, but you are NOT flashing God and everybody else while you try to climb up into this thing!" He said seriously.

Maigan looked down at her dark colored Abercrombie top, denim mini skirt and heeled sandals and blushed as she realized that that is exactly what would happen if she tried to climb up into the cab on her own.

"I guess I should have worn jeans." She said a little nervously.

"Oh you think so huh?" Daniel said with a slight hint of sarcasm.

Opening the front passenger side door, he told her to turn around and face the cab. Then putting his hands on her waist he lifted her up so she could step in to the cab, all with out flashing anyone. Going around to the driver side and climbing in himself, Daniel couldn't help but grin.

"By the way, I have an incredible job lined up for you." Daniel said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Awww come ON! This was supposed to be my vacation before going to college, that's why I came out here. To get away from the house and everything else and just have a little fun ya know? Some relaxation, maybe a little shopping, DEFINATELY some beach bumming. And now I find out I have to go to work? What kind of job is it anyway?" Maigan asked more than a little bummed.

"Well, to start off with. What you will be working with is classified in the HIGHEST extreme. OK, all bullshit aside, you'll be doing maintenance and repairs while working with the most advanced technology on this planet. I'm not supposed to give you any real details until you accept the job, but I promise you'll love it." Daniel said with an almost evil grin. Daniel knew that Maigan loved working with computer tech, and had even modified a few components in her own computers.

"Oh yeah? Just how advanced is it?" Maigan asked, her voice dripping with doubt.

"Let me put it this way, Download speeds of thirty gigs or more per second." Daniel said.

"BULLSHIT! First of all, there's not a motherboard on the planet with even half the RAM needed to handle that kind of transfer rate! Secondly, even a direct uplink can't provide that type of data feed! Don't you dare try to con me into taking some crap job just because you think it's kinda cool!" Maigan said heatedly.

"OK, ok. Last hint. I said it's the most advanced technology on this planet, but I did NOT say that it FROM this planet. Now did I?" Daniel asked her.

"That's not even funny. April Fools Day was last month! Have you been stuffing something in your stogies? Are you doing dope?" Maigan huffed while giving her uncle a dirty look.

Daniel's response was to speak to the truck of all things. "Hey, Ironhide. Take us back to the base, will ya buddy?"

Seeing that Daniel intended for him to reveal himself as a sentient being, Ironhide replied to his request. **"No problem. But do NOT expect me to drive the way you did coming over here." **Ironhide lectured.

"I ii iii ii" Maigan sputtered as she stared at the dashboard in astonishment.

"Ok you're trying to say "IT" I THINK." Daniel said getting a kick out of this.

Maigan snapped her attention away from the dashboard and looked her uncle in the eye, and yelled. "IT TALKED!"

"I TOLD you it one of a kind." Daniel said with some condescension in his voice.

Daniel folded his arms across his chest as Ironhide started his engine and backed out of the parking space.

Maigan's mouth was working in overdrive as she started trying to wrap her mind around what was going on. The only reason she didn't go completely ballistic and start freaking out entirely was because she knew her uncle would never put her in jeopardy.

_This is impossible! We don't have anywhere NEAR the technology or knowledge to do something like this for real, and he wouldn't pull a joke like this on me, so it has to be the real thing! An honest to God AI! This isn't some reject from a Hollywood movie set, and Daniel's jokes don't even come close to something like this, and it doesn't act like some Knight Rider wannabe. Besides those robot cars the military is developing can only travel preplanned routes and have a TON of extra gear on them, and this thing doesn't have that stuff. So it must be the real thing. IT'S REAL!_

"Ok, I want the whole story, starting with this truck that came straight out of Knight Rider and how you wound up with it!" Maigan said emphatically.

"You gonna take the job?" Daniel asked with a snicker.

"If I get to talk with the truck then sure, you got it!" Maigan said with out hesitation.

"The truck has a name, which is Ironhide; I on the other hand prefer to call him Tackleberry." Daniel told her.

"Why would you call him Tackleberry?" Maigan asked in disbelief.

"Maybe because I think he's a gun crazed trigger happy maniac?" Daniel replied.

"OH As if you have ANY room to talk, Mr. I'm just looking for an EXCUSE to go upside your head with a crow bar! Or a baseball bat, or Tire iron, or golf club or anything else that I can get my hands on" Maigan shot back.

"Ok, I'll admit that you've got a point, but at least a crow bar keeps collateral damage down to a bare minimum." Daniel said grumpily.

Then Daniel noticed the fuel gauge. "Hey buddy, pull in to the next filling station and we'll get you filled up ok?" He said to Ironhide trying to change the subject. "Besides we need some stuff for us as well."

"No kidding! I would LOVE a Monster." Maigan piped in, her eyes lighting up.

Ironhide had remained silent through most of the conversation between the two humans, preferring to observe the character of two people that he would now apparently be dealing with often. Much to his horror, it seemed that the young female was much like her uncle in many respects, with caffeine addiction being only one of them!

_**I am going to have a few choice words with Hatchet on this one. This Human has SEVERAL cracked, chipped or shattered processors! **_

Ironhide found a Shell station and turned in, pulling straight up to the diesel pumps.

Daniel started to get out to fill the tanks, and then stopped.

"Hey, can you even use diesel? Don't you need some kind of space age rocket fuel or something?" Daniel asked half in disbelief, half in curiosity.

"**While I do not actually use your diesel fuel itself, I do have a refining unit in my fuel system that can convert it into energon for use by my other systems. I can also use a number of other fuel types as well. So diesel will be acceptable." ** Ironhide informed him, somewhat surprised that Daniel would even care enough to ask.

"OK. Diesel it is, then." Daniel replied. Then to Maigan, "I'll come around and help you down."

"Wouldn't it be better if I went and changed?" Maigan asked.

"Do you REALLY want to change clothes in a truck stop bathroom?" Daniel asked dubiously.

"No. . ." Maigan admitted.

"Then don't." Daniel quipped.

"Hey Maigan, do me a favor and fill this bad boy up while I go grab us some goodies, and YES I will get you a monster." Daniel answered before she could ask.

Daniel jumped out of Ironhide's cab with his knees protesting loudly as he hit the ground. Maigan winced as she heard the grinding noise they made, but didn't comment on it. She turned to face him as he came around to her side of the truck and put her hands on his shoulders for balance as he helped her down from the cab. Daniel then headed straight inside, and told the clerk that he was filling up the "The Chopped Down Semi" at the diesel pumps. Then he went and grabbing a pair of ice chests, started to clean out the cooler. First he started by grabbing EVERY Java Monster, and regular Monster that they had. Next, he moved on to the Full Throttles, and cleaned out that rack, before moving on to the Frappuccinos, cleaning those out as well. Seeing that his haul wouldn't fit in two coolers he went and grabbed four more. Then filled them up while making a count of exactly what he had and wrote it down on a note pad. He didn't realize that the manager was looking over his shoulder as he did this, but wouldn't have cared if he had. The manager, for his part was surprised that Daniel had actually made an honest count of everything he had gotten, knowing that this was going to be one EXPENSIVE bill. Daniel now went to where the dog food was kept and saw that the prices were outrageous as usual for convenience stores, but he needed to get it anyway, so he did. All of this had taken a good twenty minutes, and when he got to the counter to pay for everything, Maigan was done filling Ironhide's tanks. Daniel ordered two cartons of Marlboro 100's for Maigan and another carton of Marlboro Reds for himself. He also picked up a pack of Backwoods Smokes. Daniel wasn't the least bit surprised when the bill totaled to 743.90, after all, he had stripped the cooler of a lot of drinks and the smokes and fuel weren't cheap at all either. Fortunately, for him Maigan walked in and seeing what he'd gotten grabbed a pair of coolers without being asked. Daniel grabbed the others two in each hand and headed for the truck. Loading all but two of the coolers in the bed, Daniel placed the last two in the cab where they could get to them, and then turning to Maigan, he helped her into the truck once more.

As Daniel got into the cab and closed the door Maigan asked him "What did you do buy every Monster on the shelf?"

"Yup!" Daniel replied with an almost maniacal grin.

Maigan's only response to that was a look of wide-eyed, open-mouthed disbelief as Daniel cranked Ironhide up and headed back to Hoover Dam.

"So Ironhide, back to this fuel conversion unit of yours. Do all of you have one?" Daniel asked.

"Wait there's MORE like him?" Maigan interrupted.

"**Once there were as many of us on Cybertron as there are Humans on Earth, but the war has reduced our numbers drastically, and now with the All Spark destroyed, I am not sure if there are enough Femmes left to replenish our race. The Femmes were rare to begin with and highly cherished by those fortunate enough to claim one as a Spark Mate. I was one of the lucky few to have one Femme as a Spark Sibling and another as a Spark Mate. That was before Megatron started trying to wipe out all the Femmes in his attempt to gain possession of the All Spark." ** Ironhide informed her.

Contrary to what many thought of him, Ironhide was not the cannon happy dunce that many believed him to be. True, he was proud of his cannons, which were remnants of the first Cybertronian war, but he was a soldier. That meant he was skilled in strategy, tactics, weapons, interrogations, and diversions. He wasn't sure just how far he was willing to trust Daniel yet, since his own people didn't seem to trust him to use traditional weaponry. There foreIronhide was going to see to it that he stayed in the dark as much as possible until he found a reason to act otherwise. Thus the quick and not so subtle change of subject.

"So, you have a wife and sister back home? What are they like? Wait a minute; are they able to have children? How does that work?" Maigan asked excitedly.

"UNH UNH! NOPE, NO WAY! We are NOT teaching her about how alien robots have sex! It is NOT gonna happen. Do you hear me Ironhide?" Daniel demanded angrily.

Upon hearing the nearly psychotic rage brewing in Daniel's vocal patterns, Ironhide thought it best to agree, besides this was not a subject he was comfortable discussing.

"**That would be something you might ask Ratchet when you meet him, Maigan. I can tell you about my sister as you would call her though." **Ironhide said.

"OK, let's hear it. I want to know all about her. Is she a truck like you or some thing else entirely?" Maigan asked with interest.

"**My sister, Starglide, I think that is how her name would translate, believe it or not is an Arial. This means that her alternate form is an aircraft." **Ironhide began.

"You mean like the one that pounded the crap out of Barricade?" Daniel interrupted.

"**Similar but nearly as large as Megatron. Starglide is smaller, faster, and far more maneuverable than most other Arial types. It makes her invaluable in her position of scouting and reconnaissance. She has one of the sweetest personalities and dispositions of any Femme you could ever meet." **Here Ironhide let out a small chuckle. **"She is even better with her weapons than I am, well more accurate at any rate. She is considered to be the best sniper in Cybertronian history." **

"Well just how far back does your history go?" Daniel asked.

"**Approximately thirteen million seven hundred thousand of your years. I personally can only tell you about the quarter of a million years that I have seen for myself." **Ironhide explained.

At this nonchalant statement concerning Ironhide's, age both Maigan and Daniel look at each other with the same stupid look of stunned astonishment.

"How long can you live?" Maigan asked quietly.

"**To my knowledge, no one has ever reached a point of Spark failure due to age; this doesn't mean that it's not possible. I just don't know that it has ever happened. Although I am among the older mechs still functioning, I do know of others who have lived much longer lives than I have. For example (Untranslated Cybertronian) is more than three times my age, and still wreaks havoc among the Decepticon forces when he faces them in battle."**

"Wow. So tell me more about your sister. Where is she now? Does she have a family of her own? Are there some tiny versions of you running around out there?" Maigan asked.

"**Back on Cybertron my sister did indeed have a family. She was mated to one whose name would translate as Powerslide. He was a ground type like me. There was a sparkling, child in your terms, which was the light of her existence. Both her Spark Mate and her sparkling were killed when Megatron began the purge, to wipe out all of the Femmes." **Ironhide explained.

"Why the hell would Megatron wipe out the females, if he wanted this All Spark thing? That's what I don't understand." Daniel interjected.

"**If Megatron could wipe out all of the Femmes, and then gain possession of the All Spark, he could then guarantee that all newly created Cybertronians would be loyal only to him." ** Ironhide said.

"Well Bow Down to His Assholiness, Lord of all Assholes!" Daniel said sarcastically as Maigan laughed.

"**Asshole? I am not aware of the meaning of that one." **Ironhide said.

"Look up rectum on the Internet." Daniel told Ironhide.

Ironhide was silent for half a second before he started swerving all over the road laughing his tires off. Daniel and Maigan both grabbing the armrests to brace themselves as Ironhide fought to control both his laughter and his direction. It was very fortunate indeed that there was no traffic at that time of the morning or they might have been in trouble, luckily, Ironhide got himself under control before having a wreck.

"**That has got to be the BEST description I have ever heard in reference to Megatron!" ** Ironhide said still laughing.

"How did they die?" Maigan asked softly.

"**Megatron sent two of his most enthusiastic butchers to the residential sector where they lived. Shockwave and Thundercracker, as they might be called in your language. Any way I had been on my way to visit them after having been sent off world for several of your decades. As I approached their residence, I heard weapons being discharged, and several devastating explosions. When I finally arrived to put up a fight, most of the homes had been destroyed, but Shockwave and Thundercracker were still there blasting away at anything that moved. I'd like to say that I scared them off, but I believe they only left because they thought they had finished off all the femmes in the area. After wards, I searched the wreckage of Starglide's home, and found both her and Powerslide just barely hanging on. I gathered them both up and hurried back to base faster than I have ever moved before, or since. Then I went back to look for any other survivors. When I got back, others were already searching through the wreckage, so I joined in the rescue efforts, but never did find my sisters sparkling. Ratchet was able to save Starglide, but it was too late for her Spark Mate. He died beside her on the repair table. I swore then that one day I would avenge their deaths, but so far I haven't been lucky enough to meet either one in battle." **Ironhide explained sadly.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry to hear that." Maigan sympathized.

"What was your nephew's name?" Daniel asked Ironhide.

Here Ironhide gave a sad chuckle. **"That would have been Cavalcade. One of the few Cybertronian names that would translate directly into your language." ** Ironhide said.

"You mean Ironhide could be translated differently?" Maigan asked.

"**Hmm, Well a literal translation of my name might be 'One with a Hide of Iron' or something very similar." **Ironhide elaborated.

"Does that mean we can call you 'Armor Ass'?" Daniel asked casually

Maigan made a noise of disgust as she backhanded her uncle across his shoulder, just as Ironhide spoke up.

"**NO! It does NOT mean you can call me anything but my name, which is Ironhide!" **Ironhide said a little irritated.

"Damn, take it easy. I was just joking. Jeez." Daniel said.

"Look, I am NOT going to let you start a war with your smart assed attitude! Do you HEAR me? It's not gonna happen! So you can stop trying to piss off the alien robots! Got it?" Maigan was using that tone of voice that is only given to females, and is never argued with by a man who has even half a brain.

"You do realize that it's too late on the war part?" Daniel asked her just a little smugly.

"What?! What do you mean too late? What did you do?" Maigan asked knowing it had to be her uncle's fault.

"What happened in Mission City a few days ago was these guys slugging it out, and a few of us helped." Daniel informed her with a smug grin.

"Us. You mean humans. Right? Oh GOD! Who did you take a crow bar to? TELL ME IT WAS ONE OF THE BAD GUYS!" Maigan demanded knowing her uncle.

"Actually I was out cold for most of the fight, and the only one I took a crow bar to was Ironhide here, and that was afterward. Besides HE started it by trying to shoot Chinook!" Daniel said in an attempt to justify himself, knowing he was about to receive an ass chewing from hell.

"**NOT TRUE! It was when I was about to offline Barricade that you damaged me with your weapon!" **Ironhide put in.

"OHHHH YEAH!!" Daniel said remembering. "That's right you were gonna KILL someone who was so fucked up that he couldn't even ask you NOT to kill him! And this was AFTER you were gonna shoot my wolf in MY damned shop!" Daniel said accusingly.

"HOOOOOOLD IT!" Maigan bellowed at the top of her lungs. "Both of you! Shut up and listen" Maigan said, again using that uniquely female tone.

"You!" Maigan demanded still using that don't you DARE argue tone of voice. "Did you threaten Chinook? And did you try to kill someone who, as I understand it, was helpless to fight back?" Maigan further demanded.

"**The canine sprayed his bodily fluids my leg." **Ironhide stated sullenly. He didn't like getting dressed down by anyone, but this human female had a tone of voice that even Ironhide's cannons were no match for.

"Before or after you threatened him?" Maigan asked continuing with that frightening tone.

"**Afterwards." **Ironhide admitted.

"Then you didn't deserve to be claimed as part of his territory." Maigan told him bluntly, "You better be glad that's all he did. Because they DO have other and far more disgusting methods of claiming something as theirs!"

"Now about the SECOND question that you don't seem to want to answer." Maigan started again. "Did you threaten someone who was completely helpless?" Maigan demanded turning up the intensity of that distinct tone.

"**Look it was a reflex. He's a Decepticon. I've been fighting those creeps for tens of thousands of your years!" **Ironhide said defensively trying to avoid more trouble.

"Oh, so you're telling me that you're hard wired to shoot first and ask questions later? Is that it?" Maigan demanded turning up the heat of the interrogation.

"**Well no." **Ironhide was forced to admit that such was not the case, even as he was also forced to revise his previous assessment of the human female, she was even WORSE than her uncle, and her processing matter was INTACT!

"Given those two set of circumstances, you need to be very thankful that my uncle didn't kill you! He is psychotically protective of his animals, and almost that protective of those who can't defend themselves! And you don't even want to THINK about what he'd do to someone that threatened me." Maigan lectured. Now she turned to her uncle, who visibly flinched knowing what was coming.

"NOW, you are going to tell me EXACTLY what you did to Ironhide here, and why!" Maigan said again using that tone that only females are capable of.

"OK, first, he threatened to kill Chinook. I told him in no uncertain terms, that if he touched one hair on Chinook's body that I was going to bust his ass into spare parts. Then he was going to shoot Barricade. Flat out cold-blooded murder, right there on the floor of my shop. I took a crow bar to his knee dropped him to the ground and was going for his head when one of the others grabbed me. Another one grabbed him. We BOTH got our buts chewed out by Big Rig." Daniel explained.

"Good! You BOTH deserved it!" Maigan exclaimed. "And who is this 'Big Rig'?" She then asked.

"**That would be what he calls Optimus Prime, who happens to be the leader of the Autobots. Actually he is the lawful leader of Cybertron." **Ironhide told her.

"And just why do you call the leader of a highly advanced STARFARING civilization of robots 'Big Rig'?" Maigan asked looking at her uncle in exasperation.

"OK, Ironhide here is a big ass truck. When he's a robot he's about twenty or twenty-five feet tall. Optimus, when HE'S a truck, he's an '88 Peterbuilt complete with a sleeper cab, and when he's a robot he's too damn big to even kneel properly in my shop, and it's got a thirty foot roof." Daniel said as he explained his position.

Maigan was stunned. "The Iron Giant turns into a semi?" She asked in complete disbelief. "Does he sound like the Iron Giant when he talks?" She asked half jokingly.

"You know, he kinda does at that." Daniel replied after thinking for a moment.

"Back to the issue at hand." Maigan stated severely.

"OH SHIT!" was the thought that went through the minds of both victims on the receiving end of her temper.

"I better not catch either one of you starting any trouble with the other. Daniel, EVERY time you've gotten into an argument with a truck you've LOST! And I'm SURE you don't want to tangle with one that can also shoot at you!" She said lecturing her uncle. "You got lucky the last time you two got into it because Ironhide most likely either underestimated you, or dismissed you as a threat entirely!" She continued.

"And YOU!" Maigan said, turning her attention to Ironhide. "I don't want you starting any trouble with him, because I'll just bet that the reason he was given a job working with you is for repair purposes, am I right?" Maigan asked rhetorically. Not giving Ironhide a chance to respond to that question she continued. "That means it is NOT a good idea to tick him off because he knows WAY too many methods to drive you nuts, WITHOUT causing any damage!"

"**Like what?" ** Ironhide asked.

"Like a bunch of marbles in your gas tanks." Daniel interjected snickering.

"**What would that do?" ** Ironhide queried.

"Ohhh, they would roll around making rattling noise and bounce off of one another and since you guys can feel the same way we can, I am SURE that you would go NUTZ trying to keep track of all of 'em." Daniel told him.

Ironhide considered the information Daniel had given him for a moment before he started laughing.

"**Hey, can I use that one against the twins if they ever show up?" **Ironhide asked Daniel.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! What did I just say about starting trouble?" Maigan demanded. "Who are these twins, and why would you want to do something like that to them?"

"**The twins are a pair of truly obnoxious mechs that make your uncle seem VERY pleasant by comparison. Besides, I've owed them a nasty prank for several thousand of your years." **Ironhide explained.

"And just what did they do to you first?" Maigan asked.

"**Back on Cybertron they once stuffed the equivalent of fireworks in my plasma cannons, so the next time I went into battle, my opening salvo consisted of an pit damned light show instead of a pair of shots that would have crippled or killed my enemy. I was lucky I wasn't off lined right there and then. Although I'll have to admit that the display was quite amazing and did provide an excellent distraction." ** Ironhide elaborated.

"OK so you want to drive 'em nuts instead of taking a chance on getting 'em killed. No problem. I got PLENTY more ideas where that one came from." Daniel said with a malevolent grin.

"**Partners?" **Ironhide asked with a chuckle.

"Sure, but I'm STILL gonna call you Tackleberry." Daniel answered.

"**That is perfectly agreeable, Crunchy." **Ironhide countered.

"OH Lord, give me strength." Maigan muttered in exasperation.

By this time, Ironhide was turning into the service entrance of Hoover dam, and rolled to a stop at the gate. As the gate security officer walked toward the truck Daniel fished out the papers and ID that Agent Bannacheck had provided. Rolling down the window Daniel stuck the ID out for inspection

"I don't need to see that ID Badge! I remember THIS truck!" The security guard said looking like he'd prefer to arrest the trucks occupants. "And you better not do THAT again!" the guard said indicating the deep tire ruts in the asphalt.

"Admit it, if you had a vehicle that could rip up the road, you'd be doin' it too." Daniel said with a slight grin.

Maigan was staring bug eyed at the ruts in the asphalt. "Ironhide did THAT!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah." Daniel said simply while staring at the ruts himself.

After the security guard lifted the gate, Ironhide proceeded straight to the makeshift med bay.

Once there, Daniel grabbed the two coolers and jumped out, intending to go around and help his niece. Ironhide had other ideas. Letting some of the air out of his tires, the Top Kick settled onto the rims. Then Ironhide sank down on his suspension far enough that Maigan was able to jump down without assistance.

After Maigan jumped out of the truck, she and Daniel were both looking at Ironhide with some concern.

"What did you do, destroy his suspension?" Maigan demanded.

"He was driving just fine on the way in here, and I only peeled out when we left." Daniel said defensively.

"**He did not do anything damaging to my systems. I decided to provide some assistance to let you exit by lowering the height of my alternate form. Was that not acceptable?" **Ironhide asked a little confused while rising back to his normal height.

"OH WOW!" Maigan exclaimed softly." That pathetic Trans Am must be shredding his plug wires with envy."

Daniel resumed unloading Ironhide by grabbing the rest of Maigan's luggage and then grabbed the other four coolers from the back of the bed. Maigan was taking the opportunity to look around at the massive room.

Once unloaded Ironhide began to transform. Upon hearing some really strange noises, originating from the truck behind her Maigan turned around. Having someone tell you something unbelievable, and seeing it with your own eyes, are two drastically different things. The taller Ironhide got as he stood up the wider Maigan's eyes and mouth got as she stared at the former truck in total shock

"DAMN! Now THAT'S what I call a giant puzzle box. You're a living puzzle box, Man!" Daniel stated in amazement.

"Yeah, what he said." Maigan muttered while still staring at the large mech.

Daniel looked around the med bay and noticed that Ratchet was nowhere to be seen; he also noticed that Frenzy was contentedly chugging away on a small barrel of what appeared to be some more coffee from the Starbucks. To his credit Frenzy was far too busy trying to drain the coffee and savor it at the same time, to pay any attention to anything else. Daniel was about to question the little mech when he could hear the rhythmic thumping of some very large footsteps.

Maigan was looking around trying to figure out what was making that thumping noise, when Optimus Prime entered accompanied by Agent Bannacheck. The two were discussing the possibilities of relocating to a more secure location.

"Look, I'm not disagreeing with you at all. I am simply saying that some of your people need time to recover, plus we will need to equip any location that you move to with supplies of some kind, plus some security personnel of our own. in case more Decepticons show up." Agent Bannacheck was saying. "We are looking in to it. I promise, that abandoned missile silo that Daniel suggested just might work. I have Agents looking at it now, and I will let you know something as soon as I receive word on it."

"**Very well.**"Optimus answered.

"Wow" Maigan muttered partly under her breath, while staring at the gigantic Optimus Prime, "You are like BEYOND huge!"

"THAT is precisely why I call him 'Big Rig'!" Daniel exclaimed with a smile.

Optimus looked down at the young woman before kneeling down to better approach her level, **"My name is Optimus Prime. May I ask what your name is?" **Optimus spoke with a deep baritone voice that was full of warmth and friendliness.

"My name is Maigan." She said introducing herself. "Oh wow." as she spotted those large optics glowing like a pair of giant sapphires lit from behind by searchlights.

"**It is a pleasure to meet you Maigan." **Optimus said offering his hand.

Maigan looked at the hand that was being offered to her. It was big enough for her to curl up and go to sleep in, and she couldn't help but wonder just how this was going to work as she extended her own hand in response.

Optimus gently took her hand between his thumb and index finger and shook it.

"Nice to meet you too." Maigan said with a disbelieving smile, as the giant mech shook her hand.

"He DOES sound like the 'Iron Giant'." Maigan said turning to look at her uncle.

Optimus quickly accessed the web and referencing all available material on the Iron Giant surmised that the stories must have been written by someone who had seen, and possibly worked on Megatron during the early days of sector 7. He also couldn't help but be somewhat pleased by being compared to a heroic figure from earth's literature. Thus, it came as no surprise to him that he took an instant liking to Maigan. Optimus then stood up to his full imposing height and placed his hands on his hips, and looked at Maigan.

"**You think I resemble a hero from your children's stories?"** he asked with mock severity.

"Yeah, cuz some how I just don't think there's a vicious bo . . . err BOLT in your body." She said looking up at him.

"**Humph, try telling that to Bonecrusher." **Ironhide said with a snicker.

"Who's Bonecrusher?" Maigan asked.

"**Bonecrusher was a Decepticon that was wantonly and needlessly endangering many human lives in his attempt to wage war against us." **Optimus told Maigan. **"And I had no choice except to remove that threat to human life." **He continued.

"So you had no choice then, when you killed him." Maigan asked quietly.

"**None and I don't think Bonecrusher ever had a chance to figure out what hit him, before he died." **Ironhide explained with a large amount of pride in his leader's actions, and combat prowess.

"Hey speaking of dead robots. When are the spare parts gonna get here?" Daniel asked looking at Agent Bannacheck.

"They should be here in about two hours." Bannacheck replied.

"Wonderful." Daniel replied. "Now, I don't suppose this place has some sort of quarters that my niece could make use of, does it?" Daniel asked doubtfully.

"Actually, it does, and I have assigned a set of rooms for the two of you to use until we can find some better accommodations for our new friends." Agent Bannacheck said.

"Great, now is there a female around here that can show Maigan to those rooms so she can get changed?" Daniel asked him.

"Is there some reason that you don't trust Hopkins or Shultz?" Agent Bannacheck asked concerned.

"I don't even fully trust ME around her, so how the hell am I 'sposed to trust someone else?" Daniel asked in all seriousness.

Taking a hard look at the second-generation cheerleader in question, Agent Bannacheck was forced to agree with her uncle's concern. "I'll get someone on it." He said as he left the med bay.

Ten minutes later, Daniel had loaded Maigan's luggage onto a roller cart and both were finishing their cigarettes when a red headed woman entered the med bay.

"Hi, I'm Melissa, and Agent Bannacheck asked me to show a young lady to her room?" She asked not sure if she had been told correctly.

"Yup, she needs to change clothes." Daniel said indicating his niece, as he grabbed the cart stacked with luggage.

"Ok, if you'll just follow me, I'll show you where it is." She said fully understanding Maigan's discomposure.

Melissa led them down the hall and made a couple of turns until they got to the rooms they were set aside for them. She then gave the two a couple of printed maps of the facility that indicated not only where their rooms were, but also the Starbucks, and the cafeteria. She then told Maigan to have her paged if she needed anything before she left.

Daniel unloaded the luggage and surveyed the rooms. It was set up similar to one of the nicer hotels in that there was a main room with a small sofa that pulled out into a bed, that room also contained an entertainment center with a decent sized T.V. and DVD player. The actual bedroom had two double beds, a nightstand, dresser with a second smaller T.V. on top of it, a small fridge with a microwave on top, and a coffee maker. Then there was the bathroom, which contained the usual toilet, tub and shower combo, and towel racks.

"Change into something you can grunge in. NO skirts! You'll be going up and down a lot of stairs and maybe even some ladders. From what I understand there aren't that many females working here. PLUS you'll be dealing with some kind of glowing junk that I'm not sure you want to get on you." Daniel lectured.

"All you had to say was that I might be going up ladders, and then warn me about that glowing stuff." Maigan said peeved. "I might dress to impress, but I DON'T tolerate leers from a bunch of 'No-Conscience-Hard-Dick-Mother-Fuckers' as grandma calls 'em! They try anything and they'll have my spike heels planted in a spot they will whole heartedly wish I didn't know about!" She told her uncle in a tone that couldn't be argued with.

"OK, ok. Just making sure." Daniel said raising his hands in surrender.

"Just what is this glowing stuff that I need to be careful of?" Maigan asked.

"They call it 'energon', and near as I can figure it's what they use for blood. It carries power to their systems, so it might also have some electrocution risk as well." Daniel said after thinking about it for a second.

"Oh." Maigan said simply, as she started to unpack her things. "Oh I forgot to tell you. I brought you some stuff from home." Maigan said with some excitement.

"Oh yeah, like what?" Daniel asked interested.

"Ohhh, just some Wolf brand chili, and some Shockers." She said smugly, knowing her uncle would go ballistic over the chocolate covered espresso beans known in Texas as Shockers. That and the chili, which had to be specially ordered outside of Texas, would definitely improve her uncle's attitude.

"Girl, you are a God send!" Daniel said happily. "I'll tear into those later. Right now, we have three dead robots on the way to use as spare parts to fix one that was shot to hell and back a few times. Another one that apparently they don't think can be revived because he was torn in half. I'm hoping they're wrong, because I saw the caliber of one of those bad guys, and if the rest of the Decepticons are even HALF as mean as he was, then we are in for a world of trouble." Daniel informed her.

"So, you get changed and I'll meet you back in the med bay." Daniel said as he was leaving.

"Ok." Maigan said.

Ratchet was in the med bay staring disgustedly at Frenzy when Daniel got there.

"**What the pit are you jabbering about now, you little Fragger?" ** Ratchet was fed up with the antics of the little mech, and it showed.

"**Beanbeanbeanbeanbean JIUCE!" ** Frenzy sputtered, happily hopped up on massive amounts of caffeine.

Daniel couldn't help but laugh as he heard this. "He wants some more coffee." He told Ratchet.

"**Primus! That's just all I need! Wait, you mean to tell me that you can understand that little glitch?" ** Ratchet asked both disgusted by Frenzy, and stunned by Daniel's comprehension of Frenzy's spastic speech patterns.

"Sure, I can understand him just fine. Why?" Daniel asked a little surprised that Ratchet wouldn't be able to understand one of his own race.

"**That little fragging glitch has been rambling constantly about some kind of dominating bean. He's driving me into overload!" **Ratchet complained.

Daniel just snickered as he walked over to where he had put his coolers and got out a pair of Java Monsters. He grabbed an Irish Blend for himself and a Mean Bean for Frenzy.

"Now THIS is one of the better types of Coffee." Daniel told Frenzy as he cracked it open and placed the hose into it. "I suggest you go slow on this and savor it because I don't have enough of these as it is, because there's you, me, and my niece that are going to be sharing these things." Daniel informed the immobilized mech.

All four of Frenzy's optics were fastened on the canned concoction that the human was preparing for him. Then as the human placed the hose into Frenzy's mouth and walked away, Frenzy got his first taste of absolute heaven. The little mech's optics had shut down in order to allow him to fully savor the coffee based beverage.

_**Primus! I thought the other stuff was sublime. How can I assist in the destruction of the squishies, when they create things like this? Cybertron had NOTHING like this! I can NOT allow the Decepticons to destroy those who are able to create such things! I have to join them. The question is how can I do that? The Autobots will try to stop me or have me offlined. They would never trust my intentions. I have to protect the squishies; it's the only way to protect the existence of coffee! Autobots will never believe me, no matter what I tell them. So how do I do it? What if. . .**_

Here a truly novel idea occurred to Frenzy, and it was one that might never have occurred to any other Decepticon in Frenzy's position.

_**What if I join the SQUISHIES! I have skills that they will need if they are going to oppose the Decepticons. So I can offer to join them, instead of the Autobots! I will have to ask the squishy that gives me coffee when the Autobots aren't around. **_

His course of action decided Frenzy was left free to enjoy the delectable flavor of the Java Monster.

Daniel lit a smoke and wandered over to look at the mech that had been torn in two. Taking a closer look at the damaged areas and joints, he could see that tremendous force had been applied. He could also see that the energon lines had stretched like taffy before they had snapped. He was looking at the damaged wiring when his attention was pulled back to the energon lines. Something was nagging at him and he couldn't figure it out. Then he realized what it was. There was no energon leakage! Leaning over to closely examine the severed lines Daniel realized that they had been pulled flat, thereby pinching off the flow of energon before they snapped. If this was truly the case, there just might be a chance to revive the fallen mech.

Daniel was opening the armor to have a look at the spark chamber when Ratchet came over to see what he was doing.

"**This was Jazz, our first lieutenant. He was a good friend, even if he was a bit obnoxious at times. I will truly miss him, and to be honest, I don't think there is an Autobot that won't miss him greatly." **Ratchet said mournfully.

Daniel was now looking at the spark of the fallen mech and he noticed a very faint glow around it.

"I don't think he's done for yet Bones." Daniel said quietly.

"**Humph. What do you mean? His spark has ceased to function; there is no spark pulse to be found. With out that there is no way that he can be revived." **Ratchet explained angrily.

"Well there is still a faint glow in that spark thingy." Daniel said.

"**Yes as long as there is viable energon in the spark chamber then there will be a faint glow. But without a pulse, Jazz is dead." **Ratchet explained with a little more patience this time.

"So if I reach out and touch that thing?" Daniel asked.

"**You might still get shocked." ** Ratchet finished.

"Then he ain't dead yet!" Daniel exclaimed.

"**WHAT! Why would you think so?" **Ratchet couldn't believe his audio receptors.

Ordinarily Ratchet would have dismissed such talk as dreaming on that person's part, but he was beginning to see that humans had learned to do things in radically different methods from those used on Cybertron.

"Look up 'defibrillator' and 'jump start' on the Internet." Daniel told him quietly.

Somewhat reluctantly, Ratchet began to search the web. What he found in his search stunned him into stasis lock when he considered the implications.

Daniel had gone back to examining Jazz's body when he heard and FELT a horrific crash. Turning around he saw Ratchet stretched out on the floor! Now he heard a rapid series of crashes that sounded like a stampede of dinosaurs, most likely those huge brontosaurus types! Just then, Optimus and Ironhide came dashing into the room ready for anything including total war!

"**What the pit did you do to him?" **Ironhide demanded when he saw Ratchet out cold.

"Nothing! Does it look like I have a crow bar handy?" Daniel shot back.

"**Easy Ironhide. Tell us what happened." **Optimus said.

"We were looking at Jazz and I noticed a few things and we started discussing the possibility of bringing him back. Next thing I know, there's a KFB, and he's on the floor." Daniel told them.

"**What the pit is a 'KFB'?" **Ironhide demanded.

"You know, Ker Fucking Boom!" Daniel replied.

That was when Ratchet's lights came back on, well the ones in his optics at any rate. Ratchet sat up, looked around, spotted Daniel, and instantly demanded, **"Is that even possible? Do you really think it might work?"**

"Don't see any reason why it shouldn't." Daniel said giving the medic a strange look.

"**We are going to need more energon. Especially with two mechs needing transfusions. I don't think we can wait until the four of us can generate that much ourselves. So it may come down to a choice of only saving one of them, and with no guarantee on reviving Jazz. . ." ** Here Ratchet trailed off, he just could not bring himself to say it.

"Hey! That reminds me. Ironhide mentioned a fuel conversion unit in his systems. Do all of you have one?" Daniel asked.

"Of course, It's a standardized unit. All Cybertronians have then once they receive their adult form." Ratchet answered.

"So why don't we strip those units out of our organ donors and see if we can power 'em up?" Daniel asked.

"**They'd have to be powered by a spark in order to work." **Ratchet pointed out.

"OK, so as long as they ain't been shot to hell, we can hook one up to Big Rig and one to Tackleberry here right? Use their sparks to temporarily power some energon production." Daniel suggested.

"**Ratchet, COULD that work?" **Optimus asked.

"**That would actually be a safer method of getting the energon we need, instead of using ourselves as donors." **Ratchet exclaimed.

"**In that case, we can certainly use the one from Bonecrusher then, since Optimus got him in the head." ** Ironhide broke in.

"OK, so when they get here, the first thing we need to do is get some energon started. We strip this Bonecrusher of his refining unit, and hook it up to one of these two. My thought would be Big Rig here, since he would appear to have the stronger power system because of his larger size." Daniel suggested. "Hey is there any way that we can shut down anythingnon-vital so that we can divert some extra power to that thing and get this stuff into production a little faster?" He continued.

"**I could go into recharge even though I just recently emerged from it. That would make more power available for energon production." **Optimus added trying to help.

At this point both Optimus and Ironhide finally realized just what the two were discussing. Both started demanding information.

"**Can you two really revive Jazz?" **Optimus asked of Ratchet.

"**Are you really going to bring him back?" **Ironhide asked Daniel at the same time.

Daniel look at the still seated medic even as Ratchet had turned to look at him, and both started snickering at the same time.

"We're gonna give it one hell of a shot, but we may need you two as blood donors for some spare energon in addition to what we can make from the dead rust buckets." Daniel said answering the questions of both mechs.

That was when Maigan entered the med bay followed by Agents Shultz, and Hopkins. Maigan took one look at the scene in front of her and immediately demanded to know what was going on.

"Not much. I think I deep fried his brain for a minute though." Daniel said indicating the still sitting Ratchet.

"**He made a truly amazing suggestion that would never have occurred to a Cybertronian medic. It surprised me so much that I had to reboot my processors." **Ratchet said with some amusement.

"Oh." Maigan replied.

Ratchet began to get off the floor when he suddenly frowned and looked over at the two agents following Maigan into the room. He was about to say something to them when Daniel spoke up.

"Yo, Shultz, Hopkins. I am gonna need a vacuum pump, about half a dozen fifty gallon barrels, no, make it an even dozen, NEW ones! I am also gonna need a 10,000 watt generator. And five fifty gallon barrels of gas. I need you to get on this pronto, cuz we got to have this stuff before those spare parts get here." Daniel said a little sternly. He had noticed where their eyes were focused and he was not happy.

Ratchet looked at what Maigan was wearing. She had changed into an older pair of Guess jeans, and an older Tommy Hilfiger T-shirt. She was still wearing those heeled sandals, and had pulled her black shoulder length hair into a hair band to keep it out of her way while she worked. She was not as developed up top as Mikeala; but she was definitely more than attractive by human standards. She had the lithe build and tone that went with being a cheerleader, and while she didn't flaunt her physique, she also didn't have to. She was not wearing much makeup, except for a little eye shadow, and some lipstick, but then she didn't need more than that. Her deep brown eyes and medium complexion combining to form a natural beauty that most females, and even some models would kill to have. Ratchet had instantly detected the pheromones produced by the two agent's and he was wondering how Daniel had also detected the increased pheromone levels of the agents. Ratchet made a mental note to ask him about that later.

Maigan was not oblivious to the stares of the two men that had locked on to a certain part of her anatomy. She simply had to ignore it. Had she turned and confronted them about it, they would have denied everything, lied through their teeth, and proclaimed total innocence. So although she couldn't really do anything about it without acting like the queen of all bitches, she didn't have to like it either. She was quietly fuming while trying to think of some way to direct their unwanted, and unwelcome attention else where, when her uncle had given them an assignment to carry out.

As the two agents left the room Maigan couldn't help notice that several eyes were watching them leave, and almost all of them were filled with a fair level of hostility. It seemed that her uncle wasn't the only one that noticed the rude behavior. Ratchet was frowning at their backs, Optimus was looking somewhat sternly at them, and Ironhide looked ready to blow a gasket!

The tension in the med bay was broken when Bumblebee entered carrying Sam and Mikeala on his shoulders.

"**Hey, look who I brought to visit!" **He said excitedly.

"**Wonderful, I think we can use some extra hands in a short while." **Ratchet proclaimed.

"**You did not bring Mojo did you?" **Ironhide asked Sam, giving him a sharp look.

"Nah, I left him at home." Sam replied

Bumblebee set the two teens on the floor so they could better introduce themselves. Mikeala spotted Maigan and sized her up, even as Maigan did the same. Without realizing what was transpiring between the two girls, Sam broke the possibility of tension between them by taking Mikeala's hand. Sam's intention behind that action had absolutely nothing to do with Maigan directly, it was meant as a subtle clue to the burly looking dude who was appraising him.

Seeing that the two teens were a couple, and that the kid was smart enough to appreciate woman he had. Daniel walked over and introduced himself.

"Howdy, name's Daniel. The young lady over there with Ratchet is my niece Maigan, and we've been recruited to help keep these over grown walking Buicks in top form." He said with a slight grin while extending his hand to Sam.

"Samuel James Witwickey, but you can call me Sam." He said while shaking Daniel's hand.

Daniel shook his head and snickered. "Somewhere down the line one of your ancestors must have hated their kids to stick 'em with a last name like that." Daniel told Sam jokingly.

"Yeah." Sam agreed thinking of all the teasing he had received about it over the years.

Maigan made a noise of disgust and shook her head at her uncle's warped sense of humor, before walking over to introduce herself to Mikeala.

"Hi, I'm Maigan." She said as she extended her hand smiling.

Mikeala retrieved her hand from Sam and took Maigan's.

"I'm Mikeala, and this is Sam." She told Maigan with a nod in Sam's direction to indicate him.

"Hi, Sam." Maigan said smiling and nodding her head, but making no move to shake hands with him.

"Hi." Sam said returning the greeting.

Unknown to the Autobots, subtle clues, and messages had been passed around among the humans. The signals said that Sam was happily taken by Mikeala, Maigan had no interest in trying to take Sam away from Mikeala, and Daniel had no reason to have a crow bar talk with Sam.

"So what's going on? You said that you might be needing an extra pair of hands?" Mikeala asked Ratchet.

"**The remains of the Decepticons that we fought are being brought back here so that we can use them as spare parts to repair Barricade, and hopefully revive Jazz." ** Ratchet told him succinctly.

"WHAT!? Wait a minute. You mean that cop that tried to kill us? Why are you going to fix him?" Sam demanded a little worried.

"I thought you said that there was nothing you could do for Jazz." Mikeala said at the same time.

"Hey wait, that cop car wasn't even in the fight, so how did he get so that he needs repairs?" Sam pointed out.

"He would be needing repairs because he stood there and told that jackass Megatron, that he wasn't going to wage war on innocent civilians. Megatron wasn't too happy with that idea and pounded the crap out of him with a BFG." Daniel answered.

"He did that? Yeah right! He did a pretty good job of taking on a couple of civilians when he tried to kill us!" Sam shot back heatedly.

"**Sam, Daniel is telling the truth, I saw the recording myself. It also explains why you weren't seriously injured when Barricade caught up with you." **Bumblebee interjected.

"What about at the refinery?" Sam retorted.

"**That had me scared out of my processors! Back on Cybertron Barricade is well known as a consummate killer, preferring to kill his victims in up close personal combat. He is well known as the best melee fighter on Cybertron. I couldn't figure out how or why I beat him, but I wasn't about to question my luck. I just wanted to get the two of you out of there as fast as possible." **Bumblebee explained

"Are you telling me he's a wet work specialist?" Daniel asked the yellow mech.

Bumblebee paused for a split second before answering. **"Yes! That is EXACTLY what he is!" **Bumblebee exclaimed.

"**He is so much of a wet work specialist, as you call it, that he doesn't even possess any ranged weapons at all. Most of us prefer to use ranged weapons and only have melee weapons for emergencies, but Barricade has gone to an extreme that was previously unknown on Cybertron. The worst part is, he has been known to kill mechs far larger, stronger and tougher than himself. And he ALWAYS attacks them from the front!" **Ratchet informed them.

"So you're saying that he could have killed me and Mikeala any time he wanted to?" Sam asked them.

"**He shouldn't have had any problems killing all three of us Sam." **Bumblebee told him quietly.

"**Unfortunately, we can not have any of our questions answered until Barricade is repaired. He currently has no memories of anything prior to coming online after the battle." **Ratchet informed Sam.

"**Sam, you know that we will not allow him to harm either of you." **Optimus told him.

Unnoticed by anyone except his niece; Daniel had lit a smoke and walked over to his tools during the latter part of the conversation. He now returned wielding a four-foot long Gorilla bar.

"Hey if anything gets out of hand I can always use this." Daniel said with a grin holding up the over sized crowbar.

Sam and Mikeala could only stare in shock as the four gigantic robots instantly jumped back away from the crowbar wielding psychopath.

"**Hey! You were ordered not to use that against us ever again! Remember? Besides we agreed to be partners RIGHT?" **Ironhide said with trepidation, because he knew that the human was unbalanced to begin with.

Sam and Mikeala were looking around at the Autobots trying to figure out why they appeared to be leery of someone a fraction of their size who only had a crowbar. Maigan was glaring at her uncle trying to let him know that he was pushing his luck.

"Actually I just thought I'd show these two something funny." Daniel said laughing at the discomposure of the giant mechs. "See, this is kinda like an NFL linebacker being scared of a Chihuahua. But still, I can keep Barricade in line with this."

Upon hearing this statement the four Autobots visibly relaxed a little, but they still kept a watchful eye on the unpredictable salvage operator.

"Are you NUTS! Didn't you hear what they said about him? He'll rip you a new one! You won't stand a chance!" Sam stated in near total shock.

"**If you had seen how fast he took Ironhide down using that thing, you would be more worried about Barricade's safety than his." **Bumblebee said with a chuckle as he pictured the confrontation in question.

"Wait, he challenged IRONHIDE with a CROWBAR!" Mikeala demanded.

"**No, he ATTACKED Ironhide with a crowbar, and was going to kill him, when Ratchet finally managed to grab that thing before Daniel could attack him again. You may not believe it Sam, but he can move even faster than you did when you were running from Megatron. Plus he knew EXACTLY where to hit Ironhide to cripple him." **Bumblebee answered.

"**As much as it pains me to admit, he had me right were he wanted me." **Ironhide broke in.

"I'll make you a deal. When push comes to shove I'll get up close and personal, while you guys stand back and blow the bad guys to hell. How does that sound?" Daniel proposed to Ironhide with a grin.

"**That might actually turn out to be a formidable battle formation." **Ironhide said with small chuckle.

It was at this point that SOD Keller came in moving rather quickly, followed by the usual assistants.

"Well, folks it seems that we've hit a stroke of good luck. Those Decepticons are being unloaded right now. So I'd like to know just how soon we can start getting some information from the two that we have in custody on the whereabouts of that last one we have running loose." SOD Keller announced.

"Well Barricade, ain't quite as bad as we thought but he still needs circuitry repairs. Frenzy should be able to be questioned right now, if you want." Daniel said putting down his crowbar.

"Well then we should get started. We need to know just what kind of threat that last Decepticon poses. Which one is this Frenzy anyway?" SOD Keller asked.

"**Frenzy is the one that you fought against while we were dealing with the others in Mission city." **Bumblebee told Keller.

"Humph! In that case, getting the info I need may not be all that easy." SOD Keller stated.

"HAH! Try hooking him up with a bunch of Java Monsters. He loves those things about as much as I do!" Daniel piped up.

"WHAT!? You telling me that thing drinks coffee!?" SOD Keller demanded in shock.

"Yup. By the gallon!" Daniel said with a grin. "Now I hooked him up with a Mean Bean, but you might try either the Russian, Irish Blend, or Big Black! He'll go absolutely ape shit over those." Daniel continued.

"**Hmm, Daniel's suggestion might prove beneficial, since we have nothing like those beverages on Cybertron." **Optimus said thoughtfully.

"So you actually think that might work?" SOD Keller asked.

"Can't hurt to try." Daniel said.

"Fine, we'll try it your way." SOD Keller said.

SOD Keller and his aids began wheeling Frenzy out of the improvised med bay to begin interrogating him, while Daniel started gathering the tools that he might need to work on Jazz. Daniel had gathered quite a lot of tools and materials together when Ratchet approached with some questions.

"**How do you propose to proceed? Do you plan to repair him first?" ** Ratchet asked wondering if the human had learned anything about the first rule of triage, which meant that you treated the worst injuries first.

"Actually, putting our game plan together would be a pretty good idea." Daniel responded turning around.

Daniel looked around the room at his niece and the other two teens, along with the rest of the Autobots, and thought while running his right hand along a couple days growth of beard.

"Hmmm, I think you and Maigan should work on Barricade while I tackle Jazz. Scrap heap over there is going to need precision detail work, and Maigan is a much neater hand at soldering, and welding than I am, besides she's also better at electronic circuitry than I am." Daniel said thoughtfully.

"Wait, what about Mikeala? She's got some serious skills too you know." Sam piped in.

"Yeah? What kind of skills?" Daniel asked dubiously.

"Her dad taught her almost everything there is to know about fixing cars." Sam said with a large amount of pride in his girlfriend, while Mikeala was looking somewhat embarrassed, hoping that her now erased criminal record wouldn't be brought up.

"Really? Another beauty with brains huh? GOOD! You can help Maigan and Bones put Barricade back together, while I work on Jazz." Daniel told the young woman. "Now what about you sport? What skills you got? Since you were so eager to volunteer her, you can help out as well." Daniel said turning to Sam.

Sam now looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. "Who me? No, no, I don't have any skills like that, I'm just good at running away from stuff that trying to kill me." Sam said trying to weasel his way out of something he just knew he'd screw up.

"Fine, since you're so good at running you can run for parts, drinks and anything else we may need. How's that sound?" Daniel asked him.

Sam glanced around trying to figure a way out, before he realized there wasn't one. Then he swallowed hard and nodded. "OK." He said.

Daniel now turned to the three remaining Autobots.

"I don't suppose you guys know how to dismantle those dead wreaks without tearing 'em up worse than they already are do you?" Daniel asked Optimus.

"**Since they are dead, we will not have to worry about preserving their sparks, so yes, we can disassemble them for you." ** Optimus replied.

"OK, good," Daniel said as the first truck came in pulling one of the deceased Decepticons.

I most sincerely apologize for not having this out sooner, but my life has been really hectic lately. Between the IRS! My job and a few family issues I have not been able to work on this nearly enough to satisfy those blasted plot demons. I promise that it won't take anywhere near as long to do chapter 5. But then I did plan to have this posted around the fourth of April. Again my apologies.


	5. Chapter 5

The first Decepticon brought in to the med bay was Blackout

The first Decepticon brought in to the med bay was Blackout. He had been literally shot to shreds. The damage from missile impacts, S.A.B.O.T. rounds, (Special Armor Burning Ordinance Tactical) and plasma cannons was nearly catastrophic. The only undamaged part appeared to be the cranial structure. This meant that the internal circuitry would be salvageable for use in Barricade's repairs. There were dozens of scorch marks, and blast points on Blackout's frame. Indeed very little of the outer armor was intact. Daniel moved in for a closer inspection of the dead mech, as did Ratchet and the other humans. Several of the articulation servos in the left armature were functional, as were the knee joints. Surprisingly enough, there was very little energon leakage. It turned out that the fatal shot had been a direct hit to the Spark casing delivered from a very low angle, and passing beneath the upper torso armor.

"**It doesn't look as if he's lost much of his energon." **Ratchet observed.

"Then we may not need energon donors after all. Cool!" Daniel replied.

"SHULTZ! HOPKINS!" Daniel bellowed at an ear shattering volume that was truly impressive. With the acoustic amplifying qualities of the improvised med bay, his voice seemed to vibrate the very walls of the chamber.

"What?" Both men jumped in surprise as they answered the yell.

"Oh. There you are." Daniel said turning around. "You got those barrels and other things I need?"

"Yes Sir. They are being loaded onto a fork lift right now." Shultz replied.

"Good! If we need anything else, Sam here will come tell you what it is." Daniel said dismissing the two agents that didn't seem to know how to keep their eyes on proper targets.

"Thanks for getting rid of them. They've got a bad staring problem." Mikeala said after the two agents left.

"I've noticed." Daniel said in what sounded more like an animalistic growl than actual speech.

"Wait! What did they do?" Sam asked.

Before Mikeala could respond, Daniel answered Sam quickly. "Don't worry about it sport. That's twice! If it happens again, I'm gonna recruit Ol' Tackleberry over there and we can BOTH have a talk with 'em about the finer points of etiquette around teenage women!"

"**I'd like to know just how you were able to discern their elevated pheromone levels with your level of olfactory sensitivity." **Ratchet asked unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

"HUH? Oh, that. WAIT! You can SMELL their pheromones?" Daniel asked in amazement.

"**Yes. You obviously have some method of detecting them as well, considering how rapidly you have acted in each case."** Ratchet observed.

Daniel chuckled a bit before making his reply. "No, I can't smell their pheromones, BUT I can tell EXACTLY where their eyes are locked! As I said, if it happens again, Tackleberry and me are gonna teach 'em some much needed manners! Painfully!"

There was a series of whirs and clicks as Ironhide readied his massive plasma cannons. **"I'm under strict instructions not to use these against humans." **Ironhide said brandishing the weapons in question.

"Well, if you're shooting at a wall, and they get a little singed by the blast, then that isn't your fault, now is it?" Daniel asked with a malicious grin. "Besides the world is better off without folks sorry enough to leer at kids, even if they are almost eighteen."

"**I will not allow Ironhide to participate in the injuring of humans." **Optimus told Daniel sternly.

"No problem, I'll just get Barricade to help after we get him fixed up." Daniel said smugly.

"**I will not allow that to happen either! What is wrong with you?" **Optimus demanded getting angry.

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with him!" Mikeala said, jumping to the man's defense.

"There's something wrong with THEM!" Maigan said backing the other girl in her uncles defense.

"Uh, Optimus, I'm not sure exactly what they were doing, but I think they were staring at things they weren't supposed to. That would make them perverts to most people." Sam put in.

"Hey! Let's forget about the fact that BOTH these girls are underage! Gawking at ADULT women like that is illegal! Now either I get one of you people to scare some sense in to 'em or I let my crowbars do the talking!" Daniel said getting more irate as he thought about it.

The other Autobots were obviously in full agreement with Daniel's sentiment, as they were nodding their heads in approval.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's going on in here?" Agent Simmons demanded as he walked in catching Daniel's last statement of rage.

"We're discussing the fate of certain people that can't keep from leering at teenage girls!" Daniel said vehemently.

"HEY! That was strictly an intimidation tactic for interrogation purposes only, and she got me back by handcuffing me to a light pole in my underwear!" Simmons said holding his hands up in self-defense.

Both Sam and Mikeala snickered at memory that statement produced.

"Yeah, I got more than even!" Mikeala said picturing the S7 emblazoned underwear.

"You call that even?" Daniel asked derisively.

"If you'd seen those underwear, you'd call it even too!" Sam said as he burst out laughing. "Besides Bumblebee peed on him too!"

Daniel was making some very strange faces, as he thought about the prospect of being chained to a light pole, while getting pissed on by a giant robot.

"OK, that's. That's more than even." Daniel admitted.

"See! She admits that she got her revenge, so you've got no reason to go after me." Simmons said fearfully.

"Actually we've been talking about two of your fellow agents that like to stare at these two girls here, and I know for a fact that my niece has never done a DAMN thing to anyone!" Daniel said getting pissed all over again.

"Do we have another problem Simmons?" Agent Bannacheck asked from inside the doorway as he walked in.

"Yeah, those Shultz, and Hopkins guys can't keep their eyes and comments to them selves! I had to listen to their whispers about my rear all the way down the hall!" Maigan said hotly.

"SAY WHAT!" Daniel growled as he turned to go grab a crowbar from his toolbox.

Daniel had grabbed his four foot Gorilla bar and was heading for the doorway when Ratchet realized just what was about to happen and grabbed the highly pissed crowbar wielding maniac.

"Let me go DAMMIT! I'm gonna separate those fuckers from the parts of their anatomy they value most!" Daniel said trying to break free from Ratchets grasp.

"I have a better idea. Why don't you let me make sure that Megatron didn't leave anything lying around when he crashed in the arctic? They can spend the next ten years looking for anything that might have landed in the area. I think prolonged exposure to that type of cold may teach them some manners. Especially after they are told EXACTLY why they are being assigned to this search." Agent Bannacheck suggested.

That got Daniel's attention. He thought about it for a moment. "DAMN! Not bad, but send 'em to the Antarctic instead. Just incase he had someone with him and they split up to cover more ground." He said with some maliciousness as Ratchet let go of him.

"Good. I'll just have them pack their belongings now. Agent Simmons can replace them as an assistant until we can find someone more suitable." Agent Bannacheck said as he left.

"Good riddance to bad trash!" Daniel said as his boss left.

"**Indeed. They are not suitable material for prospective mates to either of these ladies." **Ironhide put in.

"That is NOT what's got everyone so ticked off." Agent Simmons told Ironhide. "Now I don't know this girl here." He indicated Maigan as he continued. "But I DO know that Mikeala is underage. We have laws against that kind of behavior for very good reasons! I will admit that I did cross a few of those laws, but she got even, and as far as I'm concerned, it's over and done."

"Yeah well, we got rid of those punks, so don't waste any more brain power on 'em. We've got more important things to worry about. ESPECIALY with the spare parts on hand now." Daniel said cutting off the conversation before it went into areas that might truly horrify their robotic friends.

The forklifts had come and gone after unloading their cargo, as had the truck pulling the second Decepticon. The third and final truck was now pulling in and was unhooking the trailer carrying Bonecrusher. As soon as the trailer was disconnected, the truck pulled out of the chamber to give everyone room to work.

Daniel and Ratchet both apparently had the idea of examining Bonecrusher at the same time, for both had gone over to the dead mech simultaneously.

"**Hmmm. His spark is still active, but with the processor, and hard drive damage there is no way to revive him." **Ratchet said after a cursory scan.

"Waitaminute! You tellin' me that you guys can get shot in the head like that and the spark just keeps ticking along with nothing controlling it?" Daniel asked.

"**Not quite. We have basic life support function circuits in our chests near the spark chamber, only the control circuits and higher functions are housed in the cranial structures." **Ratchet informed him.

HEY! If his spark is still active then we don't need to risk using Big Rig to power those fuel conversion systems! We can have dead man here do it!" Daniel said excitedly.

Unheard by almost everyone, except Maigan who had gone to the cooler to grab a few Irish Blend Java Monsters, Optimus let out a quiet sigh of relief. Hearing that Maigan stepped over and patted him reassuringly on the leg, while smiling up at him.

"He won't take any chances that he doesn't have to." She whispered to the huge mech by way of further reassurance. Optimus only nodded in reply. He had not looked forward to being out of commission while creating spare energon supplies.

Maigan then went and handed a cold drink to both Mikeala and Sam who looked at her with a little surprise while wondering where she'd gotten the energy drinks. Maigan smiled in silent response and simply pointed out the cooler as she continued on her way. She handed one to Simmons, before walking over to her uncle and putting one in his hand. She then opened hers.

"Huh? Oh THANKS, Maigan!" Daniel said as she handed him the ice cold drink. He then turned and saw that everyone had one. "Cool! The ice chest is right there, help yourself if you want another one. I've got a feeling that we're going to need all the energy we can get here after a while." Daniel said with a rueful chuckle.

"Well let's get these suckers stripped down." Daniel said grabbing up his crowbar.

Three and a half hours later, the unlikely companions had stripped the deceased Decepticons down to their bare frames. The energon had been completely drained from both Blackout and Devastator, and their fuel conversion units had also been removed. These were connected to Bonecrusher's spark, which was now sitting on the floor. Requiring only enough energon to power the three fuel conversion units, the rest of Bonecrusher's energon had gone into the donation barrels. The unlikely team had wasted no time in dismantling any of the Decepticons. Blackout's cranial components, along with those harvested from Devastator, were taken to the platform where Barricade was in stasis lock. Having decided that armor could wait, Ratchet and Maigan were concentrating their efforts on the damaged circuitry, while Mikeala was busy rebuilding the damaged joints in the torso section.

Daniel had been getting some assistance from Bumblebee in his attempt to get Jazz back together. The two of them had started by rerouting all of the energon lines into rubber hosing that was cut longer than needed to make sure they had room to spare in case one of the lines needed to be repositioned while rebuilding the torso joints, wiring, and Jazz's own energon lines. Then Daniel had used a cutting torch to carefully heat up the sockets of Jazz's primary Spinal supports, so that they could be hammered back into proper position by Bumblebee. Bumblebee was doing the hammering because with his scanners, he would be better able to calibrate the position and force needed to properly reform the damaged joints. The duo had gone a long way in putting Jazz's body back together, but still had a long way to go. Jazz still needed his wiring reattached, and all of his severed energon lines reconnected, before they could even attempt to jump-start his systems. Daniel still wasn't too sure about using another mech's spark as an improvised defibrillator, but he planned to use the one without a body to get the job done, after they were certain, they had a plentiful supply of energon on hand.

Optimus and Ironhide were doing their level best to salvage, scavenge, and reclaim any, and all usable parts out of the three downed mechs. The two of them had created several sizable stacks of parts. Hydraulic actuators over here, primary servo motors over there. Support structure in one pile, armor plating in another. Energon lines, and spare circuits, including functional optics were placed in still another stack.

Sam had been busy running different things to different teams, and he didn't feel left out or picked on because he knew that he was actually helping a lot. He was able to make sure that no one had to stop what they were doing to go get something that they needed. Everyone appreciated this, and even though they sometimes forgot to thank him for it, he knew he was making a difference.

Agent Simmons even went a long way towards making up for horrible first impressions by pitching in with everything he had. Even Optimus had to give him credit, when he was told to get something done; he went at it like a ravenous pit bull after a bone. He had been keeping cold drinks near each person that wanted them, including Sam. When the ice chest was empty, he had informed Daniel of that fact. Hearing Daniel lament that the others were still in the quarters that he shared with his niece. Simmons didn't hesitate or ask questions he just went and retrieved them without being asked to do so. This earned him the hearty and heartfelt thanks of the others.

Secretary Of Defense Robert Keller didn't have things anywhere near as easy. Interrogating Frenzy was proving difficult at best, but not because Frenzy wasn't cooperating. He was. That was the problem! Frenzy was spilling his guts at a pace that even he would consider frantic. No one was able to make heads or tails of the warp speed stuttering that issued forth from the spastic little mechs vocal processor! Then SOD Keller got a break. Three hours into the interrogation, Frenzy had broken free from his restraints in total frustration. Frenzy grabbed SOD Keller's laptop and before anyone could stop him had typed in his request to join the humans using MS Word. SOD Keller was stunned. This had been the absolute LAST thing he had expected to happen! Realizing that he would never be able to comprehend anything the spastic little mech said, SOD Keller continued to let Frenzy use his laptop to communicate. In this way, the interrogation proceeded much more smoothly, but was no less shocking in content. When it was all said and done, Frenzy had agreed to revamp the security protocols of the P.O.T.U.S. Mainframe and the firewalls of the entire national defense network. When queried as to how long it would take a Decepticon hacker to get through Frenzy's programming, the answer had been about seventeen minutes, with sixteen minutes of warning that someone was trying to do so. No one could believe, nor did they even THINK of commenting on Frenzy's reasons for wanting to join the human side of this mess, but they couldn't possibly doubt his sincerity.

Fully six hours after they had started working on him Ratchet's team was ready to bring Barricade back online. They had replaced both of his optics, three out of his sixteen primary processors, nine of his secondary processors, several components in his vocal processor, and nearly thirty percent of his neural circuitry pathways so that he could access his primary memory core. They had also needed to replace dozens of connections to his secondary memory core, his optical processor, and his equilibrium processor. Mikeala had done wonders in repairing and even replacing several of his joints. Now that he was once again functional, the team went to work on his armor plating. They began by taking armor stripped from Bonecrusher. Agent Simmons had ordered a sand blaster brought in, and Mikeala had used it to remove the color scheme from the armor panels that were going to be used for Barricade. Ratchet was cutting and shaping the armor panels to fit Barricade's chassis, while Mikeala was showing Maigan how to put them on.

By this time, Daniel was soldering the last of the severed energon lines on Jazz. Bumblebee had been busy reconnecting the severed wires. Now the two of them were almost ready to fill those lines with some fresh energon. They just needed to wait for the soldered lines to cool.

Daniel sat down heavily on the floor and lit a smoke. His back was killing him, and his stomach just wouldn't shut up. Surprisingly enough, it was Agent Simmons who handed him a tuna salad sandwich from one of the visitors vending machines. Simmons wasn't really a bad person; he just had a different perspective on things. He saw himself as standing on the front lines of something that would put many people in therapy for years. He had seen many creations of the All Spark, and every one of them had been incredibly vicious, possessing innate weaponry that was formidable to say the least. There was no way he wanted things like that running loose, terrorizing the members of John Q. Public! He would do anything and everything he could to prevent that from happening. He went without sleep, so that little Mary going to school for the first time tomorrow, would never have a nightmare about giant robots from another world. It didn't matter what his opinions of these particular NBE's were, his superiors vouched for them, and that was good enough for him. He was a soldier in a war that up until now really didn't have a front, and if he saw himself as some type of glorified MIB, then so be it. After all, he was standing against aliens, and even fighting beside others, wasn't he?

By the time, Jazz's energon lines had finished cooling down enough to fill them with fresh energon; Ratchet's team was attaching the last of the armor panels to Barricade's frame.

All of the humans involved were exhausted! Sam and Mikeala had just gotten out of their parents hair for the weekend, and Maigan had only just arrived after a four-hour flight from Houston. The only thing keeping them going; was the excitement of what they were doing, and the massive amounts of caffeine supplied by Maigan's uncle.

Ratchet was in hog heaven! Not only did he have a pair of first rate technicians to work with, but Maigan had such a neat hand with a soldering iron that even Ratchet's highly sophisticated medical scanners had some difficulty determining just where the repairs had been performed. Mikeala's mechanical skills were on par with a professional level as well. Thus, Barricade had received far better workmanship than Ratchet thought he deserved. It was Mikeala who asked if they could wait to reactivate Barricade until they found out if Jazz was going to be ok. Seeing that his new assistants really needed a break Ratchet readily agreed.

Bumblebee had pulled Bonecrusher's spark over to the platform that Jazz was lying on. Daniel was busy connecting an auxiliary energon pump to it when he noticed that everyone's attention was solely on him. Realizing he had an audience didn't appear to faze him too much, but it did make him nervous as hell. With no guarantees that this was going to work Daniel was sweating it. Finally that decisive moment had arrived, either this was going to work, or it wasn't. Daniel didn't know which, and neither did Ratchet. Everyone, Simmons included held their breath as Daniel attached the leads that would activated the external energon pump. When the pump started up almost everyone expected Jazz to awaken. Only Ratchet and Daniel knew better, now that there was freshly powered energon flowing through Jazz's system, they now had to try to jump-start Jazz's spark! The glow from Jazz's spark casing grew brighter, as fresh energon hit the core. This was a very good sign, and everyone heard the noise that was made when Ratchet released the air from his vents, which sounded like someone exhaling after holding their breath. Daniel now pulled on three pair of rubber kitchen gloves to avoid electrocution, energon contact, and a possible spark bonding. He now grabbed two thick cables that were positively glowing with the raw power that was contained in them; each one had a clamp on it that had been ripped from a set of jumper cables in Daniel's toolbox. Next Daniel stepped up onto Jazz's chest and reaching into the spark chamber attached one of the clamps to a partially stripped cable in Jazz's chest.

"Here's hoping." Daniel said as he tapped the opposing lead with the second cable.

Jazz jerked hard enough to throw Daniel to the floor where he might have been seriously injured had not Optimus caught him.

"**Perhaps you should let Ratchet do this." **Optimus suggested.

"**I would be happy to Optimus, but our Cybertronian alloys conduct electricity just as well as their flesh, and there aren't any rubber gloves big enough for me." **Ratchet said with more then a little regret.

Daniel climbed back on top of Jazz's chest to try again. "Hey Buzz! Check and make sure he's turned off, we don't want to fry any of his systems with a power surge while we're playing Frankenstein." Daniel told Bumblebee. Bumblebee checked to see that Jazz would be in stasis lock if he were reactivated, and gave Daniel a thumbs up sign.

Daniel reached out with his right hand and grabbed the top of the chest armor. After taking a few seconds to lock in his grip, Daniel tapped the opposing lead again. There was a noticeable pulse for his effort, but only one. Jazz's body again tried to hurl the human across the room, but Daniel had a grip that wouldn't let go. A second later Daniel hit it again. This time he was thrown free in spite of his impressive grip. Once again, Optimus was on the ball; catching flying humans was getting to be a habit with him.

Daniel said nothing as he stared at the pulsating glow originating from Jazz's spark chamber.

Ok maybe this will shut those plot demons up until I can get some more time on my hands. I promise chapter six will be along soon. Sorry that this one is so short in relation to the others, but it's not up to me, talk to those blasted plot demon!


	6. Chapter 6

He just could not stop staring at that wonderful pulsating glow

He just could not stop staring at that wonderful pulsating glow. It didn't start out slow or weak, as a human pulse would have. Jazz's spark pulse kicked in strong, bright, and steady; as if to say I will never be so easily extinguished. There was not a sound to be heard in the large stone walled chamber, where even a faint whisper could be easily heard from a fair distance. Everyone was holding their breath, watching that incredible pulse.

It was truly a spiritual moment that was suddenly made all the more poignant when Daniel jumped out of Optimus' hand and landed on the platform Jazz was on. Daniel disconnected the auxiliary energon pump, and the spark continued to pulse brightly. Daniel couldn't help grinning as he disconnected the ground lead from Bonecrusher's spark, and closed the armor plating that protected Jazz's spark casing. Daniel then moved up to Jazz's cranial supports and reached into the neck joint to activate the now revived mech.

"Nap time's over slick" Daniel quipped.

The joke was on him though, for Jazz came to with a vengeance swinging for everything he was worth. His first wild swing knocked Daniel off the platform and a good way across the room, where Daniel hit the floor with a very loud wet sounding pop as his right ankle twisted quite painfully. Upon hearing that somewhat disgusting sound, Ratchet immediately scanned Daniel's ankle, and realized that the cowboy boots that he was wearing would help support the injured joint, and other than providing pain killers there was not much to be done about it at this point.

"**You want a piece of me! YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME!!"** Jazz was yelling.

Jazz suddenly stopped both his yelling and his wild swings, and took notice of his surroundings.

"**Huh, what happened? Where the hell'd he go?"** Jazz asked suddenly confused.

"**Easy, Jazz. Megatron is dead. The All Spark has been destroyed, and while we may never be able to return life to Cybertron, we have been welcomed here by the American Government. We have new friends, and it is thanks to one of those new friends that you are back among us." **Optimus told him.

"**Primus! It's as if the little slagger was only sent into stasis lock instead of offlined entirely!" **Ironhide burst in.

"Who cares, as long as he's alive!" Mikeala piped up.

"Glad to have you back Jazz!" Sam said.

"**What the hell? Y'all actin like I was dead or sumthin!" **Jazz asked puzzled.

"**Not only were you dead, but you were beyond my skill to reactivate. If it hadn't been for human medical advances needed by their own kind, you'd have been scrapped! I'd have sworn it was impossible to save a spark a full five solar rotations after the spark pulse had stopped!" **Ratchet informed Jazz grumpily.

"**THAT'S BULLSHIT RATCH! NOBODY STAYS OFFLINE THAT LONG AND GETS BROUGHT BACK!" **Jazz bellowed in total disbelief jumping off the platform where he'd been reactivated.

Optimus then transmitted detailed logs of everything that had occurred after Jazz was torn in half by Megatron, including the sight of Megatron flinging Jazz in two separate directions upon spotting Optimus. When Jazz received this information transmission burst, he sat down heavily not knowing how to respond.

It took Jazz a few minutes to come to terms with the fact that had this happened back on Cybertron he'd have been scrapped already. There would have been nothing left to reactivate!

"**Whoa! Tha's some serious shit! I knew there was a good reason I liked these little bitches!"** Jazz said trying to gain a perspective on his second chance at life. Jazz stood up and looked around a bit before finally spotting Daniel, who had slowly and with painful difficulty regained his feet by this time, and was grinning at him. Jazz wasn't quite sure what to say to the strange human that he hadn't even been introduced to. After all, just how DID you express thanks for the impossible? That the man was grinning at him was a good sign, considering that he'd just knocked the man a fair distance across the room.

_**How the pit am I supposed to thank this guy for savin my spark? I don't even know where to begin, but I know I'm gonna DAMNED sure have his back! **_Jazz thought as he walked over to introduce himself.

Daniel stood there grinning at the mech that he'd brought back to life. It was a very strange feeling to know that someone else is alive because of something you did. Now he knew why people became Firefighters, and EMT's.

"**Yo! I'm sorry for clubbing you like that. I thought I was still in a fight with punk ass Megatron." **Jazz said sincerely.

"Hell, don't worry about it. I'm just glad it worked." Daniel replied with a grin.

"**I'm Jazz. First Lieutenant, and second in command of the Autobots. Saboteur, assassin, and recon specialist. From here on out man, I got your back! Bodyguard, protector, defender, champion you name it, that's what I'll be, 'cause I owe you big time!" **Jazz said.

"Tell you what, instead of watching my back, how bout you take care of my niece Maigan? I can pretty much take care of myself, but she's the one I worry about." Daniel replied earnestly.

"**Yo! I'm there man. Those Decepti-punks want her they gotta go through me first!" **Jazz said proudly; glad to have a way to repay the man for saving his life.

"WHAT?! You're giving me a BODYGUARD?" Maigan demanded of her uncle.

"Don't argue with me on this Kiddo! Remember Vietnam; take out the medics and troops die. WE are the medics here, got it?" Daniel told her.

"Ok." Maigan said perturbed, she might have to tolerate it, but she didn't have to LIKE it.

Since Jazz had been filled in on everything that had occurred from the time he had been dismembered by Megatron up until he had been revived, there was now only one question on his mind.

"**So Optimus, what we gonna do now that the All Spark is gone?" **Jazz asked concerned.

"**We have been welcomed here Jazz and we must now try to make the best of things by making this world our new home. Perhaps one day with the help of the humans we can return to Cybertron and restore some semblance of life to it. Until then we will remain here guiding and protecting this world from those that would bring harm to its people." **Optimus replied.

"Just out of curiosity, what was this All Spark, and what did it do?" Daniel asked.

"**The All Spark was an object of great power that could create, or restore life to a mechanical device. In its fully expanded form, it would encompass 1,953,125 cubic feet, and weighed several thousand of your tons. Once collapsed it was slightly less than one and a half cubic feet and weighed only a few pounds. Only certain few were able to access its power, for an unknown reason it would only respond to those whose spark resonated with a certain type of energy signature. Those who were able to harness the power of the All Spark were able to use it, not only to generate new life, but to heal or even restore life completely. All that remains is this tiny fragment that I recovered from Megatron's spark chamber." **Optimus told him as he displayed the small fragment, which was all that remained of the once powerful All Spark.

Daniel was stunned. He had been told only a small portion of the All Sparks true capabilities. It now appeared that it also had some type of spatial or dimensional compression, in addition to anti gravitation or mass manipulation capabilities as well.

"Do you mind if I take a look at that?" Daniel asked Optimus.

Optimus was extremely reluctant to relinquish the last remnant of the All Spark. Then he considered the fact that this human had used some highly unorthodox techniques to reactivate Jazz and had not bothered to consider his own safety while doing so, Optimus relented.

Daniel took the fragment of the All Spark and hobbled over to a workbench that had a specialized magnifier used in repairing or installing microchips. First, he tossed it into the air and caught it, looking at it with a puzzled expression on his face. Then he placed it under the magnifier. Upon examining the fragment under 750-power magnification, Daniel made some rather startling discoveries. When unobserved by anyone else he placed a small drop of energon on the fragment, it vanished! It had been completely absorbed. Afterwards there was no sign of any change what so ever! Daniel decided to keep what he thought he had figured out to himself for the time being until he could discuss things with Agent Bannacheck, and SOD Keller.

"Interesting little piece of hardware, no sign of any type of traditional circuitry at all. I might have to take a better look at it one day when we have more time and I am feeling more refreshed." Daniel said as he handed the fragment back to Optimus.

Optimus was uncertain about what to say. After all, he would not have been surprised if Daniel had taken a sledgehammer to the fragment, nor at this point would he have been surprised if Daniel had said that it could be repaired. Optimus was glad to have it back, even if only to serve as a grim reminder of all that this war had cost them.

"So are we going to turn Barricade back on now?" Sam asked apprehensively.

Daniel looked around the room at everyone, taking in Ratchet's dimmed optics, Sam and Mikeala's apprehension, Maigan's exhaustion, Sam's sweat soaked shirt, and upon adding his own sorry state into the equation decided that it would be best to wait until everyone had gotten some rest.

"I think we'd better do that tomorrow Sport, we're all beat as hell. Besides, we need to do this when Tackleberry ain't around. No offense bud, but if he wakes up and remembers that you were gonna waste his ass, while he was down for the count, he's gonna be far too pissed to reason with, and we need info out of him." Daniel said to Sam and Ironhide in turn.

"**Hmpf! I wouldn't expect too much cooperation out of him even then! But you do make an excellent point. On the other hand, we'll need some heavy firepower in here just in case he refuses to see reason." **Ratchet said.

"We could bring Capt. Lennox's team in to provide that back up. We still have plenty of S.A.B.O.T. rounds for them to use." Agent Simmons put in.

"S.A.B.O.T. rounds, huh? Why not some gelignite while you're at it?" Daniel asked. "Oh that's right; the military discontinued the use of that stuff forty years ago for some reason." Daniel said thinking aloud.

"What's gel, whatever you said?" Sam asked.

"Gelignite. Think of napalm on crack, steroids, and PCP! Liquid hellfire, literally! That stuff can even melt solid concrete." Daniel said with a truly malicious grin.

"Well no use pining for what ya' can't have so we'll just use what we got" Daniel said sardonically.

"I have an idea, why don't we all go grab some supper? Anyone like seafood? My treat." Agent Simmons asked.

"Hell sounds good to me." Daniel piped up.

"I absolutely LOVE seafood!" Maigan said her eyes lighting up.

"I'm in!" Me too." Sam and Mikeala burst in.

"**Yes, I believe all of you could use something to eat and a good recharge as well." **Ratchet said adding his professional opinion.

"Good. There's a Red Lobster right on the outskirts of mission city. We usually hold a lot of meetings there, so we get great service." Simmons put in.

"Ok, you can call me as vain and conceited as you want, but there is no WAY I'm going to Red Lobster looking like this!" Maigan said disgustedly.

"Um yeah, we ALL need to get cleaned up." Mikeala said looking at Daniel and Sam. The first was covered in splattered energon, and the second was soaked in sweat.

As everyone went to the rooms that had been set aside for them, the Autobots began talking among themselves. Jazz asking tons of questions on the situation, and about plans for the future.

As Maigan and Daniel got to the rooms that they shared Daniel grabbed his duffel bag and began pulling out some clean clothes and hygiene articles while Maigan was pulling hers out of the dresser where she had put them up just a few hours earlier. She had also placed her makeup, hairdryer, and curling iron out by the sink. Daniel tossed the clothes that he was going to change into on to his bed and then turned to his niece.

"You take the first shower, and after you get dressed you can let me know. I'll be waiting outside the door." Daniel told her.

"Are you sure?" She asked, knowing that a REALLY hot shower was one of the few methods of pain relief that her uncle allowed himself.

"Of course I'm sure, besides I'm going to need your help to get this boot off, then I'm gonna slap some Tiger Balm on it to help the swelling." Daniel replied.

Daniel sat down on his bed and stuck out his right foot. Maigan grabbed the heel of his boot in her right hand and placing her left across the bridge of his foot she pulled back and up to help her uncle get the boot off his swollen ankle. Daniel hissed in pain as the boot came off, but otherwise made no comment as he reached into his duffle bag and pulled out his prescription of Morphine Sulfate. He took one pill instead of the prescribed two and put the bottle back up. He then pulled off his sock and looked at his ankle. It was swollen, and starting to turn black and blue. Daniel got out his extra strength Tiger Balm and smeared the strong smelling ointment on his ankle, before stepping outside the room and closing the door behind him.

Daniel lit a smoke and leaned against the wall while he waited for his niece to take her shower and get dressed. While he was smoking, he reflected on his niece. Like he had told his boss, he didn't even fully trust himself around his niece. With a cheerleaders body she was athletically toned, and stood in at five foot eight inches tall. He had seen her eyes twinkle with laughter, light up with glee, and burn with rage. She was the quiet type; mostly keeping to herself, but she did love a good party. Daniel knew that she was going to be dressed to the nines when she came out and that he was most likely going to need several crowbars to beat off the guys that would be ogling her. As that thought crossed his mind, he hobbled off in search of Jazz.

Daniel found Jazz right where he had left him, still in the med bay talking with Optimus and Ratchet. Ironhide had left with Capt Lennox.

"Yo Jazz! Mind if I talk with you for a minute?" Daniel asked from the doorway.

"**Sure, what's up?" **Jazz replied walking over to the man that had brought him back from the dead.

"I want to talk to you about my niece." Daniel told him.

"**Sure, what about her?" **Jazz asked.

"In case you haven't noticed, she is considered extremely attractive by our standards. She is also young, and I don't want her being bothered by a bunch of little punks that don't know how to think with their brains!" Daniel began.

"**Oh, you want me to play chaperone as well as body guard then." **Jazz caught on.

"Exactly. She had only planned on being out here for the summer, but with all that's happened I know she's gonna want to stay. That means every punk within five hundred miles is gonna try to get in her pants! I'm trusting you not to let that happen!" Daniel explained.

Jazz knew then that Daniel had called in his favor in a big way, by asking him to safeguard a precious family member from both physical and emotional harm, in effect to help raise a sparkling into adulthood! On Cybertron, there was no greater responsibility or honor then to be asked to help in the rearing of the young.

"**You can count on me for this one. I've got you covered, and I'll die again before I let anything happen to her." **Jazz told him seriously.

"Thanks! I appreciate that." Daniel replied as he turned to hobble back to his room.

Daniel was standing outside the door, and was having another smoke when Maigan opened the door.

"The shower's all yours." She said cheerfully with her hair still wrapped in a towel.

Daniel walked in and snatching his clothes and grooming items off his bed headed into the bathroom to take his shower. Daniel tried to make short work of his shower, but for some reason the energon just didn't want to come off. When he was finally done and walked out of the bathroom, he was accompanied by a cloud of steam that would have cooked a store full of vegetables! Maigan was at the sink trying to apply her makeup when the mirror instantly fogged over from the truly massive cloud of steam.

"URRRGH!" Maigan growled in exasperation as she looked at the now useless mirror. "Are you trying to fog up the entire planet?" She asked her uncle.

"No, why?" Daniel answered not understanding why she was suddenly ticked off.

"Well you sure did a good job on this mirror!" Maigan retorted.

"Sorry." Daniel said sheepishly as Maigan grabbed her makeup and moved to the mirror over the dresser.

Daniel went to his bed and was looking through his duffle bags for one of the ace bandages that he always had with him, because he was always needing them when he overworked himself, or pulled a truly stupid stunt like he had in reactivating Jazz. Daniel wrapped his ankle and pulled on his socks, and then he put on his Harley Davidson steel toed Riders and zipped up the sides before tightening the laces to provide extra support for his injured ankle. That done he tested his ankle to see how well it handled the weight. Nodding in satisfaction, he brushed his hair, splashed on a small amount of Stetson cologne, and was ready to go.

"Are you ready?" Maigan asked him.

"Yep." Daniel replied as he turned to look at her.

At that moment, Daniel would have sworn he could tell anyone what carpet tasted like. He just KNEW that his jaw was on the floor with his tongue hanging out as he stared at his niece. Maigan was dressed to kill.

She was standing there in a form fitting black glitter top, very wide black leather belt with large silver studs, curve hugging black slacks, sterling silver pendant, earrings, and matching bracelet. The outfit was completed by black open toed shoes with a four-inch spike heel. The overall result was that every curve was clearly illustrated as if displayed on a billboard, and the appearance of a fashion model ready for a night on the town. Daniel closed his mouth, shook his head, and headed for the door.

Maigan smiled to herself as she followed her uncle out of the room. She knew this outfit complimented her physique, skin tone, and hair color, but to see THAT kind of reaction from her uncle told her more than his words could. Yep, she looked good.

They met Sam and Mikeala, as they too were just emerging from the rooms that they had been provided. Sam took one look at Maigan and swallowed hard. Mikeala's mouth fell open when she saw how Maigan was dressed. Mikeala looked great in her blue top, denim mini skirt, and heeled sandals; her makeup was done to accentuate her sparkling blue eyes. Her long dark hair was situated to perfectly frame her somewhat delicate features, but Maigan was in a class of her own. The two young ladies took the lead as the men followed behind.

"Does she always dress like that?" Sam asked Daniel in utter disbelief.

"Pretty much." Daniel replied.

Sam just shook his head trying to get a rough estimate on just how many guys Daniel was going to kill for gawking at his niece.

When the four of them reached the med bay, Agent Simmons was waiting for them. He had grabbed a shower in the locker room. He was wearing a very expensive custom tailored Italian suit. Even Sam and Mikeala had to smile in appreciation at just how well the man cleaned up.

They were about to discuss the traveling arrangements when SOD Keller walked in grinning like the Cheshire cat. He glanced around the room before spotting Daniel, and heading straight for him. Then Keller stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned and looked straight at the two girls, who started fidgeting nervously.

"Who is she, and what the devil is she doing here? When did we open this mess up to celebrities?" SOD Keller promptly demanded.

"**Yo! She's with me. Where she goes I go." **Jazz answered somewhat belligerently.

"I'm Maigan Brewer, Daniel's niece." Maigan said more than a little nervous, thinking that she was about to lose the coolest job on the planet.

Keller looked back and forth between Daniel and Maigan for a couple of seconds.

"You're related to HIM? You have my complete sympathy young lady." SOD Keller apologized.

"HEY!" Daniel protested as everyone else, Autobots included, started laughing.

SOD Keller just couldn't help himself, that opportunity was a once in a lifetime, and there was no way that he was even going to try to resist cracking that joke. Daniel even had to smile, and admit that he'd been gotten good.

"So, what's up Sir?" Daniel asked when everyone quit laughing.

That got Keller very serious very fast. "First off, your suggestion worked. I mean to tell you it worked like a charm! That crazy little tin can went ballistic when we started questioning him. Not only did he give us the information we needed but also he revamped our firewalls and security protocols. The problem is, NOW what the hell do we do with him? We can't just turn him loose to run amok. So, I thought I'd talk with you and these folks here and see if we can come up with some type of solution to this problem." SOD Keller explained.

"Well we were about to go to dinner, Sir." Agent Simmons told him.

"I'd invite you along at my treat but I've already overdrawn my account by several hundred bucks." Daniel said.

"Oh, you don't worry about that now. You work for us, and we got you covered on that count. That goes for you three young 'uns too." SOD Keller said. "Besides, we can still grab something to eat, IF I get to treat ya." Keller continued in his southern drawl.

"But," Simmons started, but Daniel interrupted him.

"HEY! Never turn down a free meal when the Boss Man's buying!" Daniel told Simmons seriously.

"Just where were y'all plannin on goin?" Keller asked as he noticed how everyone was dressed.

"Red Lobster?" Mikeala quietly suggested.

"Sounds great to me. Let's go." Keller answered, and then he realized just how many were going, and asked the obvious question.

"How are we all gonna be traveling?" he asked finally.

"**I will drive Sam and Mikeala," **Bumblebee piped up.

"**Hey, a class act like yourself has GOT to go in style, so you can sit and profile with me, cuz the Jazz Man is the coolest one of the bunch!" ** Jazz said to Maigan as he transformed into a '08 Pontiac Solstice with custom alloy rims.

"I'm driving!" Maigan shrieked with a huge smile as she feasted her eyes on the sleek silver ride that Jazz had become.

At this point Daniel got a very strange look on his face as he studied the Autobot leader.

"Hey Boss, you feel like riding in a semi?" Daniel asked with a strange grin on his face.

"Any particular reason why we're gonna ride in a semi?" Keller asked.

"Yeah, you and I need to have a little talk with Big Rig on the way." Daniel stated.

"Hmmm, ok." Keller replied.

"**Agent Simmons can ride with me; I have some things I'd like to discus with him as well." **Ratchet put in.

Agent Simmons was quite nervous about that prospect but reluctantly agreed. Everyone loaded up and prepared to leave. They made a very strange convoy as they rolled down the highway, with Jazz taking the lead followed by Bumblebee. Optimus came next, with Ratchet playing rear guard. The Autobots were not going to take any chances with the safety of Robert Keller. Not that they wouldn't have protected anyone else in the same fashion, they simply took a few extra precautions because of who they were escorting.

On the way to the restaurant Jazz and Maigan got to know a little about one another, and in spite of herself Maigan found herself really starting to like the smooth talking, scrappy little mech. Ratchet and Simmons discussed Sector Seven's treatment of Bumblebee, and the plans to deal with any Decepticons that might be captured in the future. Simmons had explained that there was nothing personal in their treatment of the yellow mech; it was merely the only effective method available to immobilize a Cybertronian, plus the fact that Simmons had his orders, which must be followed. When Ratchet discovered that Simmons planned to work with the Autobots using the same zeal in which he had formerly pursued them, Ratchet couldn't help but realize that Simmons was going to follow orders no matter what it took to carry out those orders. If his instructions meant that, he had to break a few laws then so be it. Simmons WOULD get the job done. That was something Ratchet could understand, and agree with, especially when Ratchet considered that this obsessive individual was now on THEIR side.

The three-way conversation inside the cab of the Peterbuilt was of an entirely different caliber.

"First off, I'd like you to clarify my position in this messed up outfit. Just exactly what are my responsibilities, to them and to us, meaning humanity in general, and the U.S. in particular." Daniel stated as he cranked up the diesel.

"Son, the way I hear it, you are doing things that they didn't think was possible. Now I want you to help them in any way, and every way that you possibly can. If that means that you somehow find a way for them to go home, then that is exactly what you do. These Autobots are officially allied to the United States government. They have promised to lend their assistance to any nation in the world, which has Decepticon problem. I don't want ANY secrets kept from them. You are to learn as much about their technology as you can, WITHOUT causing any damage to the friendly ones!" Sod Keller said lecturing Daniel firmly.

"**For our part, we will be glad to teach you everything we can about our technology, although you seem to know quite a lot about it already. We will not be returning to Cybertron, even if we had the All Spark, there is much to be done here. We Autobots will help your people find alternate forms of fuel so that you are no longer polluting your environment. We will help guide your people until you are able to reach the stars on your own." **Optimus said in a somewhat fatherly tone of voice.

Daniel was doing the driving. It was a very good thing he was, because his next statement nearly caused Optimus to stall out, as his primary systems rebooted.

"So does that mean I don't wait until the Decepticons are done for, before I start rebuilding the All Spark?" Daniel asked Keller.

"Son, don't even joke like that. That thing was destroyed, and while I still ain't too sure exactly what it meant to these folks, I do know that it was damned important." Keller stated angrily.

At this point Daniel had to do some fast footwork with the clutch and gas pedal to keep the engine of the big semi running.

Optimus rebooted rather quickly, but even so, he was so overwhelmed with questions that he didn't know where to begin.

"**Daniel, you have already accomplished something we could never have done on our own by giving Jazz back to us. Do you really believe that there is a chance to rebuild the All Spark, when even we do not understand the technology behind its construction?" **Optimus asked quietly.

"All bullshit aside Big Rig. That thing is supposed to be huge and heavier than hell when it's in its full size, right? Well that little piece you got, didn't expand, it also didn't get any heavier. That means that some parts of it are still working. Maybe, just maybe it has a self-repair sequence. I dropped some energon on that chunk of yours when I looked at it. It sucked that stuff up like there was no tomorrow. I'm not going to make any guarantees at this point but I think we might be able to kick-start some type of regeneration mode in that thing. It may take a few hundred years for it to rebuild that much mass, but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't. Besides it can't hurt to try." Daniel explained earnestly.

Optimus was silent for several moments as he considered what Daniel had said.

_**Primus! If he's right then it may one day be possible to return life to Cybertron. But what if he's wrong? I must not tell the others about this until we know something for sure. His methods are unorthodox, but effective nonetheless, I will wait and reserve judgment on this until I have more to go on. **_Optimus thought to himself.

"**I will let you try to rebuild the All Spark. I insist however that you do NOT say anything to any of the others. I do not want to give them any false hopes. Is that agreed?" **Optimus asked trying desperately to keep a renewed sense of hope from showing in his tone.

Keller was shocked. He had reviewed the files that the government had on Daniel. Everyone who had dealt with him at an early age knew that his I.Q. was phenomenally high, and that he had the intelligence to design a small atomic detonator while still a freshman in high school. This caused all kinds of concern among various agencies in charge of counter terrorism and homeland security. The man didn't realize that his every move was closely monitored by several agents simultaneously, his phones were tapped, and his computer was under constant scrutiny. Every move he made on the web was watched and followed. Every e-mail, blog, and instant message that he wrote was also read by several agencies along with the person it was meant for. Keller knew from his file, that Daniel was smart enough to excel in any field that he chose to enter, he just never did make a choice, and now it was too late for him to do so. Thus, he was watched for signs of possible terrorist activities. There was one major in congruency contained in Daniel's file however; he was supposedly fiercely patriotic. No one had been able to figure that one out; therefore, they dismissed it as a ruse on Daniel's part. Keller was now beginning to believe otherwise.

Keller was thinking about all of this when a realization hit him, with the force of Ironhide's cannons!

"YOU WEREN'T GONNA TELL 'EM ABOUT YOU BEIN ABLE TO FIX THAT ALL SPARK WERE YOU?" Keller demanded more than pissed.

"Not until I had discussed it with you first. And before you chew my ass out, I'd have done the same thing if I'd been workin with a bunch of Brits." Daniel said simply.

"But, but the Brits have been our allies since WW1!" Keller sputtered.

"Yup, but they're not Americans, therefore they will have their own agenda, and look out for the interests of their country first." Daniel replied.

"Look let's get one thing straight! As far as the President of the United State is concerned, these folks are U.S. citizens, with full rights and privileges. That is in addition to retaining their naturalization from Cybertron. The ones that haven't shown up yet are also citizens even if they don't know it. Now you may feel that you're serving U.S. interests by trying to help us more than them, but you need to keep in mind that they ARE your fellow Americans! That means that they deserve every bit of help that you can give 'em, ok?" Keller demanded trying to be reasonable.

"If that's how you feel about it, then I won't bother to hide anything else from them again. Period." Daniel said seriously.

"Good! I want it to stay that way." Keller insisted. "Look I'm not tryin to bust your chops here. I'm just tryin to get you to understand what these people mean for us. I'm not just talking USA here; I'm talking the whole world. I'm talking mars colonies within MY lifetime! Maybe even a visit to this Cybertron of theirs. I want those possibilities, for all of us. Ok?" Keller continued.

"Yes Sir." Daniel replied seriously.

The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful as every one was taking the opportunity to relax and get to know one another in a more casual setting. Suddenly a very loud but deep series of thumps could be heard as Jazz cranked up his sound system. Some cities had initiated ordinances against overly loud stereos, but Jazz would have been stopped in ANY city under the excessive noise ordinance. The bass that was pounding from Jazz's speakers had such push behind it that Optimus' windows were visibly vibrating. Daniel and SOD Keller could also feel the vibration through the seats of the semi. This was a volume that could easily be used as a weapon.

"If he busts her eardrums with that shit, I'm gonna bust his head!" Daniel said getting pissed about the danger to his niece.

Optimus contacted Jazz and had him tone it down to something that would not be detected by earthquake monitoring stations in the next state over. When they finally arrived at the restaurant, all of the humans were ravenous having spent many hours of hard work building up a monstrous appetite.

This particular Red Lobster had a smoking section, which pleased Maigan and Daniel to no end. Simmons and Keller had a beer while the others were drinking iced tea. Daniel knew better than to drink while on his medication, he might be crazy, but he wasn't a fool. Everyone had ordered their favorite seafood, and were not concerned with prices. Maigan and Sam were tanking up on a ton of crab legs. Mikeala was getting her fill of a shrimp combo. Simmons had the surf and turf, which was a T-bone steak and grilled shrimp. SOD Keller had ordered the Admirals Feast, which consisted of a lobster tail, crab legs, smoked oysters, and shrimp, plus a couple of sides. Daniel went to town by ordering the Admirals Feast, a dozen raw oysters, crab legs, and the shrimp combo.

Everyone else had long since finished eating, but the salvage operator was still going strong. No one Maigan included could figure out just where in the hell Daniel was putting all that food. If he had thought about it, Daniel wouldn't have been able to explain it either. He hadn't been able to pack it away like that since he had been sixteen. He had his old appetite back for once and he was taking full advantage of it. He had just cleaned the last of the plates in front of him. He was thinking of getting desert, when Maigan shot him a look that would have left Ironhide quaking in his armor.

"What are you trying to screw up your pancreas again?" Maigan asked her uncle.

Daniel had to stop and think about her question for a minute. Then he realized just how much food he had put away.

"No, actually I can't believe I ate that much my self. Not really sure why, but something sure gave me a major case of the hungries." Daniel said sheepishly.

"You mean you don't eat like that all the time?" Mikeala asked.

"Nope. I usually only eat one meal a day and a light snack at another time." Daniel told her.

"Son, are you feeling ok?" Keller asked.

"Yeah, better than I have in years, to be honest." Daniel said with a grin. "I guess working with robot aliens agrees with me."

Daniel had a smoke while drinking one last glass of tea, before he and the others left. Keller paid the tab, which had to have been phenomenal. There was not a lot of conversation on the trip back to Hoover Dam because most of the humans were too miserably full to do much talking. Strangely enough, the only one not too stuffed to talk was the one who had eaten the most. Daniel was chatting with Optimus trying to get a feel for the large Autobot leader. The basic topic of discussion was what Optimus found interesting about Earth.

It turned out that the musical interests of the Autobot leader were nearly as varied as Daniel's. Classical one minute and easy listening, or a light smooth jazz the next. Daniel tried hard to turn Optimus onto heavy metal, but SOD Keller drew the line at listening to Metallica, or Iron Maiden.

When they got back to Hoover Dam, everyone had decided to call it a night. The Autobots were in need of a good recharge and the humans were exhausted. The humans said their goodnights and headed off to their rooms, or homes in the case of Keller and Simmons.

Maigan was in the bathroom getting her sleepwear on while Daniel got into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Daniel was examining his ankle when Maigan came out in her pajamas. She walked over to look at the injury, and came to a sudden stop.

"That looked a lot worse than that just before we left." Maigan said confused.

"I know. It doesn't hurt near as much as it did then either." Daniel replied still looking at his ankle.

The injured ankle was still a little swollen, but the bruising was already starting to fade to a disgusting yellow. Neither of them could figure it out so they dismissed it from their minds thinking that it must not have been as bad as it originally seemed. They turned out the lights, got into their separate beds, and went to sleep.

Two and a half hours later Daniel woke up. He didn't wake up because of a muscle cramp in his back the way he usually did several times each night. He woke up because something was nagging at him, and he couldn't figure out what it was. He went into the bathroom and got dressed. Then he eased his way out of the room leaving Maigan sleeping peacefully.

Daniel first went and checked on Chinook, the old wolf hybrid was doing just fine and some one had used a water hose to clean his pen around the wrecker. He had plenty of food and fresh clean water, so there was no problem there. Daniel then headed to the med bay.

As he stood there looking around the massive room, his eyes fell on the stasis locked Barricade. THAT was what was nagging at him. Daniel went over to the platform that Barricade was laying on and climbed the roller stairs, with his knees grinding loudly. When he got up to where Barricade was, he stopped to look at the state of repairs. The weapon systems had been deactivated, along with the communications module. The armor panels were those of a protoform fit to Barricade's size, but those would be reshaped as soon as Barricade was reactivated. Daniel knew that the only thing left was to reach in and turn the big sucker on, which is exactly what he did.

Daniel didn't consider that Barricade might attack, or try to escape from the med bay. Nor did he consider being taken hostage. He just followed his gut feelings and reactivated the now repaired mech.

There was a loud click in his mind as his primary systems started booting up. Barricade reviewed the last few things he remembered. Megatron had tried to kill him. A human had somehow saved his spark by conducting field repairs. Then that same human had attacked an Autobots in his defense! Apparently not just any Autobot either, the human had successfully attacked the Autobots weapon specialist, and had been about to kill that mech when the others had interfered! Then Barricade remembered the amount of damage that he had received, and ran a diagnostic. Everything was at 100 except for weapons, communications, and armor. The problem with his armor was easily remedied. Barricade simply reloaded the specs of his alt form and the armor shifted in to proper configuration. All of this occurred in less than a second.

Barricade onlined his optics and sat up looking around the med bay.

"Morning bright eyes. Did you have fun playing 'Sleeping Beauty'?" Daniel quipped.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 ROH

_**Chapter 7 ROH**_

"Morning Bright Eyes. Did you have fun playing 'Sleeping Beauty'?" Daniel quipped.

Barricade continued running a few diagnostics to review the full extent of the repairs that were completed by the human, when he found that his repair sequences were still running at maximum capacity. This was somewhat disturbing since all other systems were functioning normally. This meant that his regenerative systems should have gone to standby mode.

Barricade looked around to see who could possibly have dared to address him in such a manner. To see the human who had saved his life twice over standing there slightly behind him completely unconcerned for his safety was disconcerting to the Decepticon. He had built both his military career and his reputation on being dangerous in the extreme. Barricade knew that this was the human that had disabled the famed Autobot weapons specialist with a hand held tool. Therefore, it would not be prudent to underestimate him. Barricade knew from the few short years that he had been on earth, that humans could be quite resourceful and extremely devious when needed. They were in fact a very dangerous race, possibly even more so than the Decepticons as a whole. Barricade decided to err on the side of caution until he discovered what the humans intentions were. That did not mean that he would tolerate being insulted to any extent however.

"**Well, if it isn't the squishy that likes to attack Autobots with a crowbar." **Barricade replied with a small chuckle.

Daniel snickered at this response.

"Seems like we've had this discussion before about that squishy remark, but you might have been too messed up to remember, so let me remind you once again. I do have a skeletal structure that goes crunch. I also have about a thousand different tools that can convince you not to call me squishy again too." Daniel said with just a touch of menace in his tone.

Barricade had to admit that he admired the audacity possessed by the human. Few Autobots would dare to challenge him in such an open fashion even if his weapons were offline. Although the bravado of the human was admirable, it was also, in Barricades opinion foolish.

"**It would seem that you don't frighten very easily human. Do you have any idea what the Decepticon army can do to this pathetic backwater world of yours?" **Barricade asked.

"They might be able to do quite a bit, IF they ever get here!" Daniel shot back.

"**Megatron and the others. . ." **Barricade began.

Daniel cut him off quickly. "Are dead. The only survivors are you, Frenzy, some jackass of a jet that left, and another that was left behind in Qatar. There is no one to give you any back up, if you get froggy! Besides, I think that ass whipping that Megatron gave you could well be considered your discharge papers." Daniel said with just a little relish.

_**Slag! The pit-spawned human is right! All of the Decepticon forces must know that Megatron turned on me by now. From what he said just now, it is obvious that Starscream has played the coward and fled yet again. Now what the pit do I do? Joining the Autobots is completely out of the question. Likewise returning to the Decepticon army. Besides, I now have a Bond of Brotherhood with this human. One strong enough that I am aware of its effects even now. I need more information, but how to get it. This human is not going to be gullible enough to just give it to me. Maybe I can reason with him. **_Barricade thought.

"**You may well be right about that, but don't think that I will join those pathetic Autobots just to save my spark. I have more honor than that! During my entire military career, I have never waged war on civilians, never attacked an enemy from behind, and never allowed innocent bystanders to be injured by my actions or battles! I will tell you now; there is a reason for my hatred of the Autobots. It is not your concern, and I don't expect you to comprehend such a concept as honor." **Barricade said with a snarl.

"Yeah, I know all about the concept of honor, I saw the ass whipping go down, remember? I heard every word you two said. THAT is the ONLY reason you are still alive! If you hadn't been standing up to him from that standpoint, I'd have left your ass to die right there." Daniel retorted.

"**Ha! Somehow I don't doubt that for a second!" **Barricade said ruefully.

"Good! Because that's the absolute truth. Now what I want to know is can you work beside the Autobots without trying to rip them a new one?" Daniel retorted.

"**Hmpf! Why should I? I see no advantage to be gained by cooperating with them at all. Quite frankly, I believe that you need something from me or I would never have been reactivated. It's obvious that you want either information or cooperation, now which is it?" **Barricade demanded.

"BOTH!" Daniel replied instantly.

"**What!? Your slagging processors are cracked, chipped, and shattered if you think for one second that I will assist the Autobots in the defeat of the Decepticons! I MIGHT consider collaborating with YOU, but NOT them! If I have no other choice in the matter, I will be civil, but that is IT! As far as information is concerned, I want a fair exchange." **Barricade demanded irritably.

"Fair enough. I ask a question, you answer. Then we switch off. Agreed?" Daniel said with a grin.

"**Agreed." **Barricade snarled.

"Who is likely to take control of the Decepticon forces now that Megatron is dead?" Daniel fired off the question without hesitation.

"**With Megatron dead, there are several who will vie for control of the Decepticon forces." **Barricade said simply. He might have to answer these questions but he would NOT give out any extraneous information. THAT would cost the human.

"**My turn! How did Megatron and the others die?" **Barricade demanded.

"We killed 'em." Daniel said with a malicious grin. Two could play that game.

"Who are the Decepticons likely to be fighting for control of the Decepticon army?" Daniel came back quickly. "I would suggest a little more cooperation; otherwise this will take a long time, and I do get bored easily." Daniel continued.

Barricade growled in frustration as he realized that this human was not going to fall for his tactic.

"**There are two that will most likely fight for dominance. Shockwave and Starscream. Both will most likely try to recruit others to their own cause. There WILL be plenty of infighting." **Barricade stated.

"Cool. Your turn." Daniel said.

"**How exactly was Megatron killed?" **Barricade asked.

Here Daniel started laughing. "You know that kid you chased down, while you were looking for the All Spark? HE killed Megatron!"

Barricade was stunned! Surely, this had to be a ruse or deception on the humans part, but if that were the case, he would have felt that through that pit-damned bond they shared! Perhaps there were more to these humans than anyone thought! Barricade would have to stop underestimating them; such mistakes had often proven fatal to other mechs in the past.

"**A scrawny little civilian SPARKLING killed Megatron?!" **Here Barricade started laughing hysterically. **"Oh the irony of it! Oh sweet Primus! The beautiful irony. Megatron must be railing in the matrix as we speak! Killed, not by a mighty warrior, or in a glorious battle. Brought down by a fleshlings sparkling!" **Barricade was now laughing so hard that he fell off the platform where he'd been repaired, and landed on the floor with a loud crash.

"Ain't that a hoot? Ya really gotta hand it to the kid. When the chips were down, he pulled out one hell of an ace!" Daniel quipped looking down at the laughing mech.

This only made Barricade laugh harder. He couldn't help but think about the massive ego possessed by Megatron, and how much his demise at the hands of a human child must have galled him. A more fitting revenge for the pain and suffering he'd received from Megatron, Barricade could not imagine. Needless to say, this information put Barricade in a much better mood, and made him ready to agree to almost any reasonable suggestion from the human.

"**You said that Frenzy is still alive. Where is he? I would like to speak with him."** Barricade said when he finally stopped laughing.

"Frenzy is actually working for us now. He didn't want much to do with the Autobots either, so he decided to join the squishies." Daniel said with a chuckle.

"**I'm not surprised by that. Is he still jabbering about that damned coffee?"** Barricade asked with a glare.

"Yeah, about that. Why the fuck would you give someone that crappy ass shit from 7-11 as their first taste of coffee? How would you like it if the first taste of fuel you ever had was someone dumping a load of crude oil in your tank?" Daniel demanded belligerently.

"**I only let him have that crap to shut him up for a slagging minute or two! Wait, most Decepticons can't even understand that little fragger, so how the pit do you even know anything about it?" **Barricade demand puzzled.

"I can understand him just fine. Sure, he's a little spastic at times, but otherwise, he seems ok to me." Daniel said with a small chuckle at the perplexed expression on the mechs face.

"**So, will I be able to see my partner or not?" **Barricade demanded.

"That ain't up to me. I'm not the one in charge around here. I just do the repairs." Daniel informed him.

"**Then who is in charge around here?" **Barricade wanted to know.

"That would be my either of my two Bosses. Agent Bannacheck or Secretary of Defense Robert Keller. You'll have to talk to one of them about seeing Frenzy. To be honest with you I don't think it's gonna happen anytime soon. The U.S. and the Autobots both consider you a prisoner of war at this point, and they don't usually get visitation privileges with others." Daniel said candidly.

"**You do realize how easily I could kill you and make my escape, don't you?" **Barricade asked matter of factly.

"Hmpf, you could try. You might get past me and you might not, but you won't make it past all the military boys posted between you and the exit, if you even know where that is." Daniel stated as he bent down to retrieve his crowbar from his truck box, which was still on the platform.

Once again, Barricade had to admit to admiring the humans courage, because he felt absolutely no fear through the bond he shared with the human, only a growing sense of determination.

"**They haven't told you about me yet, have they?" **Barricade asked with a chuckle.

"Actually, they said that you are Cybertron's foremost wet work specialist, and that you shouldn't have had any problems killing those two kids and Bumblebee at some refinery. Yet somehow from what I understand you took an ass whupin." Daniel retorted with a malicious grin.

"**I do NOT wage war against civilians! When I realized that Frenzy wanted to kill one of them to make the other talk, I had no choice but to let that fragging Autobot win in order to allow that pit slagging scout to protect them!" **Barricade replied angrily.

"Really? And just why is that?" Daniel asked curious.

"**That is NOT your concern!"** Barricade snapped back.

"You're right. It's not my concern. My concern is that out of six billion people on this planet less than five percent are actually military! THAT is MY concern! MOREOVER, IF YOU THINK FOR ONE SPLIT SECOND THAT I'M GONNA LET THOSE GOD DAMNED DECEPTICONS WALTZ IN HERE AND KILL 'EM, THEN YOU'RE EVEN CRAZIER THAN I AM!" Daniel said getting pissed and yelling.

Daniel could now feel the rage seething off the black and white mech in nearly solid waves. The sensation surprised him at first, that is, until he realized how he was able to feel those emotions.

"**When I joined the Decepticons I swore an oath. The most sacred and binding oath a Cybertronian can make, that I would never allow a civilian to be injured by my actions or battles. Now it seems that in order to keep living up to the spirit of that oath I must now fight along side those damnable Autobots!" **Barricade growled. **"I give you my word of honor that I will not take action against the Autobots for the duration of this war, but know this human; if one of them attacks me, then I WILL defend my self." **Barricade continued.

"Well, that sounds good to me, but I'm not the one you gotta convince." Daniel replied.

"**Well the bitch just done a damn good job of convincing me, and since I AM second in command of the Autobots, I don't see how there's gonna be a problem." **Jazz interrupted from the doorway, as he was leaning against the doorframe.

The sudden surprising interruption caused both the mech and the human to drop into a fighting stance, Daniel with his crowbar raised in a deadly fashion, and Barricade had expanded his claws into a nasty looking series of whirling blades. This only made the saboteur laugh.

"**Getting a little jumpy are we?" **Jazz asked with a grin.

"How long you been standing there, damnit?" Daniel demanded relaxing after he saw who it was.

"**Since you walked in. I was actually gonna talk with ya bout a few things but ya got a little preoccupied before I got the chance." **Jazz answered. **"Hmpf, looks like Hatchet missed a few of his weapons." **Jazz continued as he glanced over at Barricade still in a combat stance.

Seeing that the Autobot hadn't moved Barricade retracted his weapons, and relaxed somewhat. **"Hah! You'd have to strip all of my limbs down almost to my bare chassis to get them all Autobot." **Barricade said tauntingly.

"**Knowing you, I believe it." **Jazz countered smoothly. "**So, how are you feeling? He does some damned fine work don't he?" **Jazz asked nodding hid head in Daniel's direction.

"**Yes he does at that. I haven't been in this type of condition since I first joined the Decepticons." **Barricade responded after a thoughtful silence. **"If this is any example of what the fleshlings are capable of then the Decepticons are in for a nasty surprise." **He continued.

At this point Barricade was nearly falling over from exhaustion. Although he had been fully repaired recently, his regenerative systems were still operating as if he hadn't been repaired at all, and it was those systems that were rapidly draining Barricade's energy reserves. Barricade mentioned this disturbing fact.

"Well climb back up here and I'll take a peek at it" Daniel told him bluntly.

Barricade climbed back onto the platform and lay down. Daniel reached into the neck juncture to deactivate Barricade's pain receptors.

The instant Daniel made contact with the now conscious and functional Barricade; there was a power surge that knocked the salvage operator flat on his back. As soon as this occurred Barricade's regenerative, systems tried to exceed maximum capacity. Both barricade and Jazz scanned the human to see what injuries had been incurred. Barricade simultaneously ran a full diagnostic on his own systems to see what had happened to him.

_**Primus! My regeneration systems are trying to repair the human!**_Barricade Realized in surprise.

"What the hell did you just do to me?" Daniel asked stunned.

"**That was a power surge from my repair systems, you slagging glitch!" **

"Power surge huh? And just what the fuck is a 'slagging glitch?" Daniel asked getting pissed.

"**That would be something along the lines of fuckin bitch." **Jazz put in.

"Oh, ok. Well, in that case, lay your busted ass back down, you son of a bitch!" Daniel retorted.

Both Barricade and Jazz couldn't help but laugh at the pluck of the human as he resumed his examination of Barricade's systems. Barricade was forced to admit to himself that he was starting to like this human. After all, he seemed as fearless as any Decepticon to hit the battlefield. Add to that, the fact that he appeared to be an excellent mechanic, and that he was also fairly good in a fight, judging from how fast he'd taken down the Autobot weapons specialist in less than a second, and you had the makings of a damned fine ally!

Daniel spent a total of fifteen minutes looking over the connections on Barricade's repair system and couldn't find anything wrong. He also couldn't get that system to shut down either.

"I'm gonna have to put you back into recharge until Bones and I can get a better look at this in the morning." Daniel told the former Decepticon.

"**Do I have your word that you will reactivate me in the morning?" **Barricade asked more than a little distrustful of the situation.

Daniel looked down at the mech lying on the repair table. "Dude, if you think for one second that I have busted my damned back getting your ass back into running condition, just to leave you sitting here collecting dust then you're a hell of lot dumber than you think I am!" Daniel to him irritably.

Barricade growled in response to that, but otherwise said nothing.

Daniel put Barricade back into stasis lock and decided to head back to bed.

Daniel yawned as he said goodnight to Jazz and headed back to the quarters that he was sharing with his niece. As the salvage operator was leaving he turned out the lights in the med bay, that was when Jazz noticed a faint glow about the human that was rapidly fading. He made a mental note to mention this to Ratchet in the morning when he got the chance.

When Daniel got up the next morning, Maigan was already up, dressed and ready to face the day. Daniel grabbed a hot shower, and was in the middle of brushing his teeth when he stopped. He took a closer look at his front teeth and noticed that a chip in his left incisor was fixed. This was getting weirder and weirder. After he'd finished his morning hygiene, Maigan walked back in the room and handed him a large mocha espresso. It lasted about ten minutes, just long enough to go with his morning smoke. The two then headed straight for the med bay.

All of the Autobots with the exception of Ironhide were already there, as were Sam and Mikeala. Everyone greeted the two late risers, as they headed for the platform that Barricade was lying on. Sam was once again showing his apprehension about reactivating the dangerous Decepticon. He didn't really get much of a chance to do anything about it before Daniel had reached in and done the job.

Barricade sat up and looked around the room, taking in each of the Autobots that were present along with the four humans. When Barricade spotted Sam, the Decepticon gave the boy a very scrutinizing examination, then started laughing so hard that he fell off the platform.

"**THAT? THAT is what killed the mighty Megatron? Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!" **Barricade started laughing even harder; tears of energon were streaming from his optics, as the former Decepticon held his sides while laughing.

Four Autobots were staring at the laughing mech as if he'd fried his processors, two of the humans were waiting for him to attack, and the other two humans were starting to chuckle along with him.

"**Oh, Primus! I haven't laughed that hard since I was a sparkling. I owe you one for that, boy!" **Barricade said when he finally got a grip on himself.

"You mean you're not going to kill me?" Sam asked after swallowing a rather large lump in his throat.

"**No. For several reasons. First I prefer a fair fight, second, I don't wage war on civilians, and third, I never liked Megatron anyway." **Barricade finished with a chuckle.

Maigan, Daniel, and even Jazz were all laughing at the expressions on the faces of the others.

"Well, you did throw me on top of that car pretty hard." Sam retorted, trying to justify his fears.

"**Oh, you could at least be somewhat realistic about that. You didn't even put a crack in that pathetically flimsy windshield you landed on!" **Barricade said condescendingly.

"**I was just trying to scare the information out of you. If I'd had any idea that you could move that fast I might have tried something else instead." **Barricade said with a rueful chuckle.

"**So, what happens now?" **Barricade asked as he got to his feet.

"**Sector Seven personnel have been dispatched to Qatar, where Scorpinok was recently sighted. Captain Lennox and his team have been accompanied by Ironhide to gather some sparklings that were created during the battle. As soon as all that is done we can begin relocating to a new facility that will better accommodate us." ** Optimus stated.

"Hey that reminds me! That joker is able to haul ass when he wants to. Can all of you move faster than the vehicles you're modeled after, or do you use a different drive train?" Daniel asked as he and Maigan climbed down to the floor.

"**We use the same drive train designs that your cars use but our Cybertronian alloys enable us to work them at twice the level of your designs." **Bumblebee explained.

"Really?" Here the salvage operator had a look on his face that could only be described as maniacal.

Now everyone present started staring at Daniel as if he'd lost what was left of his mind. Barricade had seen such expressions before among the Decepticons; he recognized it as one that originated from an incredible idea. Barricade could also get a sense of what the humans emotions were through the bond they shared; what he felt through that bond made him start laughing.

"**What did you have in mind?"** The black and white mech asked with a chuckle.

"Maigan, Mikeala, Sam, y'all take Buzz Boy and Jazz down to Tenth and Trinity, where all the tuners hang out for their street races. See if those two can find a better drive train that will work with their models. I'll take the others to a place where they can get some better drive trains as well."

"**Having access to a second and faster drive train would be a help to us if we needed to cover a long distance at high speed." **Optimus mused quietly. **"Do you really know where we can get them?"**

"Hah! If he doesn't then no one will!" Maigan responded.

"**But I am modeled after one of your cargo haulers. How do you intend to find a faster and more powerful engine for my alternate form?" **Optimus asked curiously.

"Leave THAT to me!" Daniel said in his best Darth Vader impression.

None of the humans present could resist a snicker at that comment. Needless to say, all of the Cybertronians present were completely baffled.

"SIMMONS!" The full-throated roar that emerged from Daniels mouth as he bellowed out the name was enough to impress everyone there; and loud enough to be heard through out most of the Hoover Dam complex.

Simmons came running in ready for anything. He'd even snatched up a 40mm M-79 grenade launcher with a belt of S.A.B.O.T. rounds.

"What, what?" He demanded in a breathless voice as he looked around and saw that there was no need for the hardware.

"Round up another corpse, we gotta take these guys for a drive." Daniel said with a grin.

"Ok, no problem." Simmons said as he left the room shaking his head and still trying to catch his breath.

Six minutes later Simmons returned with Agent Bannacheck in tow.

"Ok, what's this about taking the Autobots for a drive?" Bannacheck asked dubiously.

"Well, Boss it's like this, If those Jack asses hit D.C. how long is it gonna take these guys to get there? They can work their engines twice as hard as ones that we build, so even Big Rig here will be limited to 180 to 200 miles an hour, half the city would be trashed before we could respond. So, I wanna take 'em where they can get some better engines!" Daniel explained.

Agent Bannacheck seemed to think this over for a minute or two before he nodded thoughtfully. "Excellent idea. We could definitely have done better at Mission city, if they'd been able to cover distance faster."

"Ok, now that that's settled let's go." Daniel said happily.

"One question, whose going to ride with him." Simmons asked wide-eyed as he indicated the now functional Barricade.

Daniel was grabbing some drinks from his ice chest. Most of the ice had melted, but the drinks were still cold. He had also picked up his three-foot Gorilla bar.

"I will!" Daniel said with a grin.

Barricade couldn't resist chuckling at the discomfiture of both the Autobots and the humans as they regarded him. He also couldn't help but admire the brazen fearlessness of the human he'd formed a brother bond with. That reminded him!

"**Ratchet, my repair systems are still running at maximum capacity trying to repair the injuries he has." **Barricade said as he indicated Daniel.

"You gotta be shittin me!" Daniel blurted in exasperation. "Is THAT what knocked me on my ass last night?"

Barricade nodded in reply as Ratchet started scanning Daniel. Ratchet could find nothing out of the ordinary except that the injuries he found did not match up with those he had first detected when he met the human.

"**Somehow your systems HAVE been repairing him. I'm not sure how this is even possible." **Ratchet said.

Then Barricade walked over to Daniel and grabbed him in a solid grip to prevent him from being tossed across the room in a repeat of the previous nights incident. As soon as Barricade made contact with Daniel, an obvious energy discharge sparked between the two that shared the brother bond.

Now Ratchet began scanning both of them. The results showed that Barricades medical nanites had permeated Daniels body and were working in critical mode to repair the injuries that had been sustained during the humans life. Ratchet had been unable to detect them earlier because they were mostly dormant until contact was re-established with Barricade. Then, the nanites went into critical mode. Ratchet began reviewing all information about every bonding process he'd ever heard of, there was nothing available to indicate that one mech could use his systems to repair another. This was completely unheard of. Ratchet then analyzed the unique conditions in which this particular bond was formed. Both had been damaged, normally this would have meant that Barricades spark would have forcibly rejected ANY attempt to form a bond, but the human had been covered in Barricades own energon at the time. The initial formation link had also lasted far longer than anyone had ever attempted before; most mechs or femmes would have needed to recharge or at least stop for energon sustenance, but that hadn't happened either. Instead, the initial link had lasted for three entire days! Not, the six to twelve hours that was used to form some of the strongest bonds that he'd ever read about. This was unprecedented anywhere in Cybertronian history!

Ratchet sent this information to Barricade in a data burst transmission. Barricade could receive but not send, even if he had been rather forcibly expelled from the Decepticon forces, they were not about to trust him completely.

Barricade was still holding Daniel when he fell flat on his aft with a stunned expression on his face.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Daniel asked looking over at Ratchet.

"**The same slagging thing that you like doing to us you little slagger. I glitched his processors for a minute." **Ratchet said with a smug grin.

"Oh, you blew his mind. OK!" Daniel said after thinking about it for a few seconds.

Barricade put the human down and started getting back to his feet. He wasn't happy with the implications of this Brother Bond that he now shared with a short-lived human at all. Knowing that they could feel one another's emotions would also mean that they would be able to feel each others pain and injuries as well.

_**What is it going to feel like when he dies? Primus, there is no way to sever a spark bond once it's formed! How the pit am I going to deal with this? **_Barricade thought to himself.

Maigan was busy trying to question Jazz about what a spark bond was and what it entailed, but Jazz wasn't answering any of her questions. Sam was also pestering Bumblebee about that same topic, the yellow mech kept silent not wanting to give his young friend any ideas.

Barricade and Daniel both turned to look at each other at the same time. Both of them had a suspicious look on their face.

"**That's just creepy!"** They had both spoken the same words at the same time. They stared at each other for a few seconds then started chuckling, Barricades laugh was the more sinister sounding of the two, and this only made the human laugh harder.

"So I've got this evil alien robotic healing system now?" Daniel asked as he turned back to Ratchet.

"**It would appear that way."** Ratchet replied.

"Oh CRAP!" Maigan exclaimed with a look of astonishment. "And I thought he was nuts before! He's gonna be even crazier now!" She continued.

The laugh that Daniel let out on hearing that was menacing enough to make even Barricade take another look at the human he was bonded to. He didn't like what he saw and felt through his bond.

Daniel looked down at his diving watch and decided that it was time to go.

"Enough chatter, let's get a move on." Daniel said.

"**Sounds good to me. I could use a chance to stretch out my wheels." **Jazz put in.

Ratchet pulled a pair of portable scanners out of subspace and showed them to the humans.

"**Since we may not be able to walk up to these cars that we'll be scanning, we may need one of you to use these to let us get a proper scan of a suitable drive train." **Ratchet explained.

"Cool! Sam, you take one, and I'll take the other. We'll be splitting up anyway." Daniel popped in.

"Wait a minute. Where are you going?" Maigan shot back.

"Y'all are going to where the tuners hang out, and I'm taking the rest of these guys to an NHRA show!" Daniel said with a truly evil grin.

The Autobots had confused expressions on their faces after accessing the web to find out about the reference, because they still had no clue about what Daniel had in mind.

"**How will this help us find a better drive train?" **Optimus asked still puzzled.

"Don't worry about it. I've got that covered. Trust me." Daniel replied with a grin.

The Autobots transformed and the humans started getting into their respective rides.

"Well, let's see what ya got!" Daniel told Barricade with a smirk.

The Decepticon transformed with a growl of his engine, and sat there revving it while Daniel looked him over.

"Hmmm, not bad; not bad at all. But you'll be even better when I get done with you today." Daniel told the black and white mech as he got in the driver seat.

"**Wait just a minute, while I reactivate his transmitter so we can communicate while on the road. We will be watching you so don't do anything stupid." **Ratchet warned as he activated the Decepticons transmitter.

"**I wouldn't dream of it, Hatchet." **Barricade retorted in a sneer.

Ratchet growled upon hearing that hated nickname, and swore that he'd make the Decepticon pay for it later.

"**I'll do the driving thank you." **Barricade told his passenger as Daniel tried to start the engine.

"Yeah, about that. I've SEEN how you guys drive, am I am less than impressed." Daniel retorted in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's time someone showed you what driving REALLY is!" Daniel continued with a grin.

Barricade knew that the human was trying to manipulate him, but he also knew that he'd just been issued a challenge, and Barricade had never backed down from an honest challenge in his life.

Smoke started flying through the room at the same time that an ear-shattering wail of screeching tires went ripping through the entire Hoover dam complex. Daniel had floored the accelerator, and kept it there as the rear tires of the alien mech fought for purchase! Finally, they heated up enough to get a grip on the surface and the two were off like a shot from a cannon! Ratchet was already bellowing at Daniel to take it easy on his newly rebuilt patient, while Barricade was waiting to be impressed. The rest of the Autobots had already headed for the main gate while Daniel was busy burning rubber.

Daniel was heading for the wall at a very dangerous speed when he cranked the steering wheel to the right, hit the emergency brake, released it then cranked the steering wheel back to the left in the textbook execution of a beautiful drift around a right hand turn.

"**What the fragging slag are you doing?" **Barricade bellowed at the top of his vocal processors capability.

The deranged human only laughed in reply. Of course, this only made Barricade begin to think he'd made a serious error in judgment by letting the human inside him at all. The Autobots had exited the base and were approaching the first turn when Daniel caught up with them. Daniel was laughing like the maniac that he was as he passed them in the middle of the turn executing another excellent drift.

Instantly both Bumblebee and Jazz wanted to know just how in the pit of the matrix Barricade had pulled off a turn like that; while at the same time both Optimus and Ratchet were bellowing about being deceived, and how dire the consequences would be if Barricade didn't pull over and release his human captive!

"**I'm not doing the driving you fragging glitch ridden slaggers! Talk to that psychotic fleshling friend of yours; and get him to slow the pit down!" **Barricade bellowed back.

Meanwhile of the humans who had witnessed the maneuver, Maigan was laughing and urging her uncle on. While Sam and Mikeala were laughing at the discomfiture and at the expense of the Decepticon on the receiving end of such a ride. Agents Simmons and Bannacheck were just shaking their heads at the thrill crazed salvage operator.

Jazz and Bumblebee both recognized a challenge when they saw one, and THIS definitely qualified as a challenge! While Barricade and the scout were fairly evenly matched in speed, the saboteur was another story. He had speed to spare!

He took over the driving and quickly gained on the Decepticon, and then passed him with no problem. Then Jazz had to brake hard and slow down for a hairpin turn. Daniel didn't! He took the turn at more than twice the speed that Jazz was maintaining, and passed the silver mech on the outside of the turn, and kept right on going! Both of the Autobots nearly stalled out in disbelief as they were left in the dust of the smooth maneuver.

"**Hey how are you doing that?" **The black and yellow mech sent through the com system.

"**What the pit was THAT?" **Jazz demanded through the com system as the black and white mech blasted past him.

Barricade didn't have any clue as to how to answer either of those questions so he routed the communication in to his cabin so Daniel could answer them.

Daniel was having the time of his life, and it showed. His caffeinated drinks and smokes were totally forgotten in the speed driven adrenaline fueled rush that he was now experiencing! He just laughed when Barricade routed the questions to him and pushed even harder on the gas! Barricade had rarely felt true fear, but he was getting very close to knowing what it was, as the psychotically deranged human continued to drive. Finally, after repeatedly blowing past Jazz in the turns, it was Sam that told the silver mech that it was called drifting! Suddenly ALL of the Autobots and the Decepticon were looking this up on the web! What they found on the subject terrified them!

"_**How has this race managed to survive at all! It's a wonder that they haven't self exterminated!" **_Each of them wondered in their own way.

Then just like that two Autobots were back in the lead, their Cybertronian reflexes combined with the knowledge of how to work their own bodies giving them a huge advantage over the human driver. That didn't mean that Daniel was out of the running though, he just started taking greater chances. Pushing Barricade to his absolute limits. Barricade now that he knew this wasn't something the human was doing to try to kill the both of them, but instead a legitimate driving style, was starting to enjoy the ride. He was even urging the human to go faster and harder! He didn't care how they were beaten as long as the Autobots lost! To see them humiliated by a human driver with only the most infinitesimal fraction of their driving experience would be the single most satisfying thing that Barricade had seen in a long time. This was turning out to be a truly wonderful day!

"Holy FUCKING SHIT!" Daniel yelled in stunned amazement as he watched the huge blue and red Peterbuilt come sailing past in a beautifully executed drift of his own.

All the humans were yelling compliments and encouragement to the Autobot leader as he pulled out all the stops while making that single perfect high-speed drift that took him past all three of the racing mechs and put him in the lead.

Even Barricade, had he been asked would have admitted that he was impressed with the stunt that the big old mech had pulled off. Maybe there was a redeeming quality about these humans after all.

A short while later, they reached the outskirts of town. This was where they split up. With Bumblebee and Jazz going to one location and Ratchet, Barricade, and Optimus going to another. The Tuners tended to hang out near the center of the industrial district, while the local NHRA certified strip was closer the northern edge of town.

When the Decepticon and the two Autobots rolled up to the racing complex there was already a fairly huge crowd.

With amateur, Pro-Am, semi-pro, and Pro racers tuning, tweaking, and testing the vehicles for the soon to start drag racing season. All three Cybertronians were parked next to one another among the spectator vehicles. There weren't very many of these since it was a weekday and most people had to work. Agent Bannacheck and Simmons decided to stay and chat with Optimus and Ratchet, wile Daniel went looking for "the GOOD stuff" as he called it.

The first acceptable engine that Daniel spotted would be great for Ratchet. It was a race modified 6.8 liter Ford Power Stroke Diesel. After asking the owners about the engine, he found out that it had been bored out 90 over to accommodate larger pistons. It had also undergone a considerable amount of other modifications since it had a huge blower sticking out of the hood!

"Hey Bones! How does this drive train grab your attention?" Daniel said through the built in com link as he activated the scanning device.

The response that he got was unintelligible since Ratchet had forgotten to use English in his amazement.

Then Daniel spotted the rigs. They were a lot easier to find then the muscled funny cars, since they were a lot taller than anything else around was. Daniel headed in that direction, and his eyes practically lit up brighter that any Cybertronians could have done! There sitting in the early spring sunlight was a huge black Kenworth driven down the strip by a Pratt and Witney F-100 thruster! The grin that stretched across the salvage operators face as he thought of Optimus doubling the power and speed of that incredibly powerful jet engine could only be described as totally psychotic!

"Hey Big Rig! Get a read on this thing quick, before they move this monster out of range!" Daniel whispered urgently into the com link.

"**That particular engine is not normally found in grounded vehicles, is it?" **Optimus asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

"What the hell difference does it make as long as it works?" Daniel shot back.

"**What the slagging pit do you take him for? An aerial? Do you really expect him to actually USE a design like that?" **Ratchet demanded hotly.

"Well, yeah. I mean why not?" Daniel asked confused.

"**I appreciate the effort that you have gone to in order to find a more powerful drive train for me to use; but unfortunately, I can not duplicate the design of that engine. Even were I to scan the entire vehicle I still could not recreate the engine."** Optimus said trying to be diplomatic and not hurt the humans feelings, after all, the slightly crazed human HAD made an honest effort to give him a drive train that would have enabled him to respond to nearly anywhere in the country with in a reasonable amount of time.

"DAMN! I was SO looking forward to the ride when you tried out your new top speed!" Daniel replied in a truly disgusted tone.

"**That's ok. I can make do with the one I am currently using. Since it works out just fine." **Optimus said trying to let the human down lightly. He didn't really believe that even the very resourceful salvage operator could find a better engine for a mech of his size and stature.

"Like hell, Big Rig! So you HAVE to use an I.C.E., big deal, there are plenty here for me to choose from. I'll just find one that you CAN use!" Daniel replied.

Daniel continued to wander among the rigs until he found an older styled Kenworth running a race-modified V-8! The owners had the hood panels open and Daniel could clearly see that it was the largest Diesel engine that Kenworth produced. His eyes were lighting back up as they were more than happy to answer his questions about the engine. Daniel backed away to light a smoke, he also used the opportunity to com Optimus once more.

"OK Big Rig! I know THIS one will work for you!" Daniel told him with a slightly sinister snicker.

All three of the Cybertronians accessed the scanner simultaneously. Barricade and Ratchet did so out of curiosity. Optimus did so reluctantly, not wanting to have to let the human down again. All three mechs were stunned by what they found through the scanner!

Suddenly Optimus was reconfiguring his drive train. He just HAD to find out if he could actually USE this one! There were stunned remarks from both of the nearby agents as a huge air scoop emerged from the hood of the Autobot leader. Optimus was now sporting an eight thousand horsepower monster of an engine that, with his advanced alloys would send him rocketing down any road at speeds that no one would ever believe!

Ratchet was sinking down on his wheels in pure astonishment when everyone's attention was drawn to a very smug sounding chuckle.

Daniel was standing there, arms folded across his chest looking like a cat that had been turned loose in a bird shop.

"You are riding back with him to test that thing out!" Agent Bannacheck told the smirking nut.

Daniel's chuckle turned in to an all out laugh as he headed back in to the pits to find one last engine set up.

It took the salvage operator another twenty minutes to find the top fuel funny cars. Then it took him another fifteen minutes to find one that was running the exact engine that he wanted. It turned out to be in a '67 Mustang. There it was the ultimate dream engine for ANY muscle car. A fully blown, nitrous injected, super charged Hemi!

"Here ya go, Bro! Make it quick he's about to take off!" Daniel said as he signaled Barricade to scan the alcohol-fueled monster.

Barricade growled at being referred to as a humans brother, even if he WAS bonded to the human, there was no need to rub it in.

Then Barricade conducted his scan.

That was when the '67 Mustang made its run! Nailing the take off perfectly, the funny car flew down the strip in a few short seconds, finishing the run at a jaw dropping 337 miles an hour! It was now Barricade's turn to start babbling happily in Cybertronian as he reconfigured himself.

When Daniel got back to where the three mechs were parked. They were all clamoring with questions. Ratchet and Prime were wanting to know what their new top speeds would normally be, while Barricade was demanding to do the drifting on the way back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Daniel told the excited mechs. "One at a time." He said with a smug grin, while laughing at the same time.

"Ratchet, you first." Daniel said pointing one of them out at random.

"**Why can I not find any specs for these engines on your web? And just what are their capabilities?" **The rescue hummer promptly asked.

"Well, you ain't gonna find these on the web because they are used in competition. Which means that EVERYBODY'S gonna keep as much as they can a secret. As for the top ends? Well, yours would be around 300 in the quarter mile run, but you guys can pretty much double that, so your top end should be about seven hundred miles an hour, same with barricade. Big Rig still got the prize though; that big monster of his in a normal semi does a quarter mile faster than you wanna know about!" Daniel said with a huge grin.

"**I don't quite understand; why would I not want to know my own top speed?"** Optimus asked slightly puzzled.

"Ok, get out your crayons and your coloring books, because I'm only going over this one more time." Barricade could NOT stop the burst of laughter that erupted when he heard that remark!

"You can now move fast enough that a wreck would probably kill even you!" Daniel explained in a very patronizing tone.

There was a series of loud hissing noises as air went whistling out of the tires of all three mechs. They'd known that their new engines were fast, but a lethal crash in to weaker structures? This human truly WAS insane!

"Now there IS one problem with these engines. They go through fuel like hell. They use about ten gallons during a run. So DON'T use 'em unless you really need to!" Daniel explained. "Besides, they will also need constant tune ups after each use." He continued.

This of course turned out to be a huge disappointment to the three very enthusiastic mech who were so eager to try out their new engines, that the acted much like kids on Christmas morning.

Daniel had to chuckle at the grumbled comments as all three humans got in to the mech that was acting as their transportation.

They had only gone a short way down the road when Daniel told Barricade to com the other two.

"And in Five! Four! Ready! Steady! GO!"

Barricade instantly switched back to his racing engine, only to find that Ratchet had beaten him to it and had already taken the lead. Both mechs were quickly left looking for a dust trail after Optimus had casually switched to his new engine and quickly left both smaller (and now slower) mechs far behind!

Bumblebee and Jazz were already back at the Hoover Dam complex when they got back, and everyone wanted to know what the others had found.

"Yo! Buzz Boy, Transform and pop the hood! Let's see what you're sportin'." Daniel said as he walked over to the black and yellow scout.

Bumblebee was more than happy to comply with the request since he was really impressed with the engine that Mikeala had picked out for him. Strangely enough, once it was pointed out to her that they could use almost any engine setup they wanted, even if it didn't fit their normal designs, Mikeala had chosen two very similar drive trains for the two mechs.

Bumblebee was proudly showing off the quad turbo charged twelve-cylinder engine straight out of a GMC Delorean! He had reversed some of the design specs to convert it into a front engine rear drive system, but it worked great.

Jazz on the other hand, was packing the power plant out of a Ferrari Testarosa GT! With his smaller vehicle size and lighter weight than the scout, Jazz would be able to fly if he could only find some wings! Both mechs and all three humans were pleased with the choices that she'd made, but only the members of the other group knew why she was staring wide eyed at Optimus in a state of pure shock.

Optimus hadn't transformed back in to his alt mode yet, but he also hadn't switched back to his normal engine either! She was readily able to see the difference in the engine parts that were visible on the still standing Autobot leader.

"What did you do? Give him the engine out of a top fuel drag racing semi?" She demanded looking at Daniel as if he'd lost what was left of his mind.

"Yup." His answer was simple, and yet it was so filled with mirth that ALL of the teens present knew right then that Optimus had gotten the sweetest engine available.

"Show 'em what ya got Big Rig!" Daniel said proudly.

Optimus wasn't normally one to show off, but having tested the engine out to a small extent, he was exceedingly pleased with it and for once willing to do a small amount of showing off. There was the almost musical sound of whirling gears, and shifting metal parts as the big mech transformed. After he did so, he started that huge power plant up.

It didn't make the stuttering, and seemingly random exhaust sound of a gasoline engine; instead, it was a smooth brrrrup, brrrrup of an extremely well tuned racing diesel. It almost sounded like half of the cylinders would fire, and then a second later the other half would fire off just as fast. Just seeing the massive Ram Air Induction scoop sticking out of the rigs hood was impressive enough, but to hear and FEEL the rumbling vibrating exhaust of that massive power plant was beyond belief!

"How fast do you think he can go?" Mikeala asked quietly while still staring at the Autobot.

"Honestly, it would not surprise me one bit to see him break the sound barrier!" Daniel replied just as quietly.

There was dead silence in the med bay as everyone processed this information. Then everyone was bellowing at the salvage operator, and Ratchet was the loudest of them all!

"**WHAT?! You glitch riddled slagging chunk of scrap! Do you have any idea of what will happen to him at those speeds? Are you trying to kill him?" **Ratchet was so enraged that his arm was twitching as his cannon kept starting to switch in and out of subspace. It was if Ratchet couldn't decide whether to shoot the psychotic human, or tear him apart with his bare hands.

Daniel was looking back at the raging medic with a bemused expression.

"You know, I never did say he HAD to go that fast. I only said that he COULD go that fast." Daniel clarified with a mischievous grin.

"**Oh!" **Ratchet said slightly stupefied by the human's behavior.

Then Daniel got a very serious look on his face as he shot a glance at Optimus, and then looked back to Ratchet.

"You know, there really is only one thing you can do if he DOES decide to go that damned fast." Daniel told the medic.

"**What would that be?" **Ratchet asked puzzled.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!" Daniel yelled at the medic before starting to laugh his head off.

Everyone else in the room was rolling on the floor having a good laugh at the seething medics expense. Even Barricade thought that this was funnier than anything he'd heard in a long time.

**Authors notes: I sincerely apologize for taking way too long to get this chapter out to you. My plot demons are on a rampage, and have me writing out scenes that won't be ready to in a chapter until around 17 or later. I have also been helping my girlfriend out with her story a bit. She encountered a nasty case of writers block on some action scenes and asked for my help. I gave it to her without hesitating. I am also still helping her with it. It's a very good story and I am enjoying both reading it and working on it. It's called "Small Packages" and I highly recommend it.** /s/4253470/1/

**A small warning though, it WILL blow your mind. Things are about to start getting more than a little crazy in this story, and I know my updates have been sporadic at best, but I can't promise anything other than that I am NOT going to leave this unfinished! **


	8. Chapter 8

ROH Chapter 8

"**Why you slagging little glitched out, virus plagued fragger!" **Ratchet was steaming. That pit spawned junkyard operator had gotten the best of him AGAIN!

**  
**"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're pissed, and I'm insane. Can you PLEASE tell me something I DON'T know?" Daniel asked with absolute sincerity.

Of course, this only made Ratchet madder, and everyone else laugh harder.

"Ah well. Back to work." Daniel stated very nonchalantly as he turned and went to his workbench, completely ignoring the enraged medic.

Ratchet was fuming. _**How the pit can he just irritate someone like that and then just totally ignore them? Primus! He's as bad as the twins are, and there's only ONE of him!**_

Daniel pulled over one of the plasma cannons that they had stripped from Blackout's carcass and began to examine it. He then reached over and grabbed a container of energon that had been generated by Bonecrusher's spark. Having spotted the power connections and mounting brackets while dismantling the Decepticons had given him an idea. Now, Daniel wanted to find out if he could make it happen.

Daniel was examining the cannon, looking for some type of firing control when something hit the back of his head with a fair amount of force.

The impact had enough force behind it to knock his head forward and make him see stars for a few seconds. When he recovered he looked around to see what had hit him, he spotted a box of Kleenex tissues on the ground, one side caved in from hitting his hard head.

Daniel turned around slowly. There was a deadly purpose to his movement now. For some people it might have been like watching the one of the main gun turrets of a battleship being brought to bear.

Daniel looked around at the people and mechs in the room.

"Who threw that?" Daniel said in a near growl pointing at the crumpled box of tissues.

Several people and a couple of mechs instantly pointed at Ratchet, who was still seething inside. Daniel nodded his head and turned around to his workbench. He snapped out a hand, grabbed a two-pound sledgehammer off the workbench, and turned back to Ratchet.

"OK, you wanna throw something besides words. All bets are off." Daniel growled as he started towards the still pissed off medic.

"**Oh SLAG!" **Barricade said as he took several steps back. He could feel the psychotic rage boiling off his new spark brother, and he did NOT like the intensity of that rage.

"**You aren't supposed to use those against us remember?" **Ratchet demanded as he realized that he might have gone too far. Ratchet had thrown the tissue box because it was the only non-lethal implement that he could find. Had he known it would generate a murderous rage he might have reconsidered!

"Nope! Boss told me not to START anything. I didn't. YOU DID!" Daniel growled in reply.

Seeing that the irate salvage operator was still stalking towards him obviously intent on doing some major bodily harm, Ratchet threw a second box of tissues. This box hit the man square in the face.

Daniel was stunned for just a few seconds, as something snapped inside his head. Then the sledgehammer dropped from apparently nerveless fingers, as a totally blank expression took over Daniel's features.

Barricade began stumbling backwards as he stared at the human with horror written all over his features.

"**SLAG! That glitch just shut down his logic processors!" **Barricade said just before he fell on his aft clutching his head.

At that comment, Maigan looked at her uncle closely, noting his lack of expression, and everything else about him.

"Oh SHIT! Optimus grab him! He's gone berserk!" Maigan shouted.

Optimus hesitated for just a second, before reaching out and wrapping his hand around the salvage operator, holding him tightly but carefully nonetheless.

Hearing the tone of alarm in Maigan's voice Ratchet scanned the salvage operator, and found that the adrenal system was flooding the man's blood stream with far more nuero-muscular stimulants, than it would normally receive in a 48-hour period! Worse, those glands showed no signs of slowing their production rate. Ratchet continued to scan the human in horror as his heart rate doubled, and his blood pressure tripled. Respiration was deep and steady, so the overall result was that the muscles of his body were pumped full of oxygenated blood and massive amounts of adrenalin, effectively quadrupling the man's strength, and rendering him totally unable to feel and injury that might be done to him in the next few minutes!

"**Primus! Can all humans do that?!" **Ratchet demanded from Maigan.

"No. Actually very few people have a berserker rage, Thank God. But he's told me what happens to him, and it only happens when someone physically hurts him, and not always then. The only way to calm him down is for you to leave the room or Optimus to take him out of here for a while." Maigan said worriedly.

"**How will I know when he has calmed down enough to safely release him?" **Optimus asked her.

"That's easy. Just wait until he tells you to let him go." Maigan replied.

"**And you expect us to trust his word on that?" **Ratchet demanded.

Maigan nodded her head.

"If he has enough of his brains back to be able to talk, then he's got too much sense in his head to be going off like that. As scary as that berserker rage is to us, it scares him even more because he knows what he is capable of doing while he's like that, and he doesn't really know or care who gets hurt while he's going after someone that way." Maigan explained.

The subject of this conversation was silent the entire time, the only sign that he had not calmed down was his obvious struggles to get loose from the grip that Optimus had on him. Everyone couldn't help but notice though that the salvage operator had managed to get his arms loose and was straining against the index finger of the hand that held him.

Optimus noticed that amount of sheer power that was being applied to his finger; he locked his joints to prevent himself from accidentally crushing the man if his strength suddenly gave out**.**

Ratchet scanned the enraged human again, what he found during that scan really disturbed him. That man was exerting far more pressure against Prime's finger than he should be able to. Ratchet began to worry that he might cause further damage to the already damaged shoulder muscles and ligaments.

"**Optimus, would you mind getting him out of here to see if Maigan's suggestion will work to calm him down. He's likely to pop his arms out of their sockets if he keeps on struggling that way." **Ratchet said irritably as he glared at the object of his frustration.

Optimus nodded and began walking out of the room. Maigan ran over to the workbench and grabbed her uncle's cigarettes and lighter, before following the Autobot leader.

Barricade was still sitting on the floor holding his head, as Ratchet walked over to scan him.

"**There's, there's no slagging way ANYONE can get that fragged off! There's just no way!"** Barricade was saying.

The black and white mech had been stunned by the sheer animalistic intensity of the cold boiling rage that he'd felt from his human spark brother. Even his own anger was mere irritation by comparison.

"**SLAGGING PITS OF THE MATRIX!" **Ratchet bellowed in surprise. **"Just how fragged off IS he?"**

Ratchet grabbed Barricade and quickly hauled him back onto the platform where he'd been worked on.

"**Quit struggling you slagger. He nearly fried half of your emotion processors!" **Ratchet told the former Decepticon.

Ratchet quickly took Barricade off line and opened his cranial casing. Once inside Ratchet saw that while there was no actual damage to the emotional processors; the black and white mech would need the installation of an additional cooling system to prevent damage from the strong emotions that his human spark brother produced.

Ratchet wasn't sure just how to make certain that those particular processors would stay cool enough to prevent the damage that would occur if that slagging salvage operator got that mad again. He'd been about to leave the former Decepticon offline for a while until he could figure something out, when Sam and Michaela came over offering to help.

"**These chips need to be kept cool without over cooling the rest of his systems." **Ratchet explained.

"Why not just install cooling fans on 'em like we do for the main processors in our computers?" Sam asked not sure if it would work.

Ratchet quickly hit the web to see what Sam was referring to.

"**Hmmm, that should work. Do we have any of those components here?" **Ratchet replied.

"Glen might have 'em." Sam piped up quickly. "He's been upgrading all of the computers in this place since he got here." He continued.

"You mean that kid you came in with? I'll get him for you." Agent Simmons interjected pulling out his cell phone.

Less then five minutes later, Glen came in from a side entrance that led past the Starbucks break room. He was packing a small toolbox in the fingers of one hand while using it to support a medium sized box of computer parts in both hands.

Sam went over and took the box of parts from Glen so that he would be able to see while climbing the stairs. Sam had no trouble looking past the box to see the stairs, but Glen's weight would have made such a maneuver impossible.

Once Glen was able to see what they were talking about doing, he quickly pulled out half a dozen heats inks and cooling fans to go with them.

At that point, Ratchet had no problem installing the parts and connecting them.

Maigan was starting to get concerned about her uncle. The man still had not stopped trying to get free from Optimus' grasp. Optimus scanned him again for the fifth time in as many minutes. He may not have had Ratchet's medical knowledge, but his scanners were just as sensitive. He found that the massive adrenaline levels that flooded the human's system were beginning to subside.

"**I think he will calm down soon. His body can't fuel this rage for much longer." **Optimus told Maigan.

"God I hope so! Just don't turn him loose until you know for sure though, ok?" Maigan said with a worried expression.

"**Don't worry. I'm not letting him go until I am certain that he will not try to kill my medical officer." **The big mech replied.

Seconds after had Optimus finished speaking, Daniel stopped pushing against his fingers. The salvage operator glanced around as if he were looking for something.

"You can put me down now, Big Rig." Daniel told the big mech.

"**Are you going to try to kill my medical officer, again?"** Optimus asked not sure about letting the potentially dangerous man go.

"Not unless he throws something else at me. But I do plan to knock him in the head for that second shot that he took at me, and you can either watch it happen now or you can wait until you least expect it. But if I have to sit back and plan it out, it's gonna be a thousand time worse, for HIM!" Daniel stated in a deadly tone.

"**I will not allow you to kill or damage my medical officer." **Optimus said sternly.

"I have no intention of killing him, but I AM going to put a dent in his head." Daniel shot back.

Optimus made the sound of a sigh as he blew a massive amount of air through his cooling vents. He bent down and set the still angry salvage operator down.

The first thing Daniel did when he was turned loose was look over at his niece and asked her for a smoke. He smiled his thanks when she handed him his instead of one of hers.

Daniel started shaking from the after effects of the adrenaline. It took him a good twenty minutes to stop his muscles from shaking. When he was finally ready, Daniel quietly stalked into the med bay to see Ratchet, Sam, Michaela, and Glen working on Barricade.

Daniel walked over to his workbench and quietly picked up a two-inch socket. Then he walked up behind Ratchet and with perfect aim, threw the socket to hit the CMO square in the back of his head with a resounding clang.

"What the fuck's wrong with him now?" Daniel demanded when Ratchet turned around angrily.

Ratchet growled as he glared down at what was fast becoming the bane of his entire existence.

"**That fragging rage of yours nearly burnt out his emotion processors. You rotten slagger!" **Ratchet bellowed.

"So what are you doing about it?" Daniel shot back not giving an inch.

Ratchet looked down at Daniel curiously. The human didn't have any other items that could be used as a weapon, but then that didn't seem to faze the strange little man. The medic rubbed the back of his head where the socket had hit him and glared at the human again.

"**Glen is installing additional heat sinks and cooling fans to protect Barricade's emotional processors from the strain produced by your glitched out rage." **Ratchet growled.

That got the junkyard owners attention. He started over and climbed the stairs onto the platform that the now ex- Decepticon was laying on. He saw that Glen was just closing up the mechs head after installing the cooling units and allowing everything to cool down. The salvage operator glanced at the box of parts that Glen had brought with him and seeing all the top end computer gear, Daniel realized that the guy knew what he was about.

Ratchet reached down and reactivated Barricade. Then he looked down at Daniel.

"**I don't care how angry you get you better never throw another thing at me again." **The medic growled.

"Hah! You don't have to worry about that because the next time you throw something at me, it had better be nothing but words, or I'll kill ya." Daniel shot back in an amused tone.

"**Do you actually think I'll let you get close enough to use that crow bar of yours?" **Ratchet demanded.

"Who the hell said that that's the only weapon I have in my arsenal? I got stuff I can use to reduce you to a screaming molten puddle!" Daniel said in deadly quiet tone.

Ratchet knew from the look on the humans face that he wasn't bluffing. The only question was would what the human had in mind work? Given the humans track record so far, Ratchet did not want to risk his life on it. The CMO growled and returned his attention back to Barricade who had heard a good part of the exchange.

"**Ok, you two need to interface or kill each other, but either way shut the frag up about it!" **Barricade growled.

All of the Autobots present started laughing at that comment, all except Ratchet that is. The medic glared at Barricade, as he went over to the workbench that had been set up for him. Daniel was giving the black and white mech a dirty look that said he was pretty sure he knew what the Decepticon had said, but wasn't willing to bet on it.

Daniel turned to climb down the stairs off the platform when he turned to Barricade.

"If you ever tell me to go fuck somebody again, they'd better be three things. Split tailed, over the age of 18, and decent looking." He whispered to his spark brother as he passed.

Barricade roared with laughter at that comment, while the human kept going. Daniel went to his workbench and grabbed a couple of Java Monsters, before going into the next room to spend some time with Chinook.

The Autobots were standing around discussing the potential of their new engines, when Barricade started getting a strange feeling from his connection with the human. The black and white mech went to check it out. When he got to the doorway of the next room, he stopped. Daniel was sitting in the enclosure with the aged hybrid cradled in his lap. His ever present coffee discarded on the floor. Barricade turned around and went over to Ratchet.

In total silence, Barricade got the medics attention and motioned for him to follow. The medic glared at the Decepticon before he noted the expression in those red optics. Without a word, the medic put down his project and followed Barricade into the next room.

The old hybrid was looking at Daniel as it was struggling for breath. The human was sitting there gently stroking the animals fur and whispering softly to it.

"I'm sorry Buddy. There's nothing I can do." Ratchet heard him say.

A thorough scan revealed that there was nothing Ratchet could do for the animal either. The two mechs stood there silently observing the scene before them. This of course got everyone else's attention.

Daniel was oblivious to anything else around him. His entire concentration at that point was on his friend of nearly seventeen years. He leaned down and kissed the hybrids muzzle. Chinook licked his cheek and whined softly. Then the hybrids body was racked with massive spasms as he fought for breath. The old canine bending nearly double in his efforts to take one more breath. Daniel silently held him the entire time.

Daniel didn't need to be told when it was over. He knew, and he held his friends lifeless body as he thought about what to do next. He gently laid Chinook on the floor and got up. Daniel went over to his wrecker and started pulling out all of the tools in it. He laid every one of them on the floor. Then he went and picked up his friend and loaded him up in the truck for one last ride. Daniel moved the fence panels out of the way, so he could get his wrecker out and then he got in and cranked it up.

Maigan grabbed her uncles cigarettes and lighter along with the two cans of coffee that had been dropped without a second thought.

"Can you give me a ride to follow him?" She asked looking up at several of the mechs. "I'd like to say goodbye too." She said with tears in her eyes.

Without a word the Autobots, and one Decepticon transformed. The humans quickly climbed in, and the strange convoy followed Daniel back to the salvage yard on the outskirts of Mission City.

Daniel didn't know that he was being followed, nor would he have cared if he had known. There were no tears in his eyes as he drove his friend home. He would have welcomed them if there had been. Many times in his life he'd been called cold, callus, and uncaring. This was not quite the truth. The brain damage that he'd received early on in life had destroyed his emotion center in his brain, which meant that he didn't experience emotions the same way that others did. This was one of the times when he really hated what had happened to him.

When Daniel got to the salvage yard, he found a corner of the lot that was fairly empty and parked. Then he got out and went over to a backhoe. Daniel climbed up in the backhoe and cranked it up. Then he set about digging a very large pit.

It took him several hours, but when he was done, the pit was just over ten feet wide, sixteen feet deep, and forty feet long with a slope leading out of it. There was a small nook at the far edge of it. Daniel pulled the backhoe out of the pit and parked it over to the side. Then he got back in his wrecker and pulled into the garage.

The salvage operator shut off the truck and popped the hood. He got out and grabbed an oil pan and crescent wrench before he shoved the pan under the truck. Then he started draining the oil. While the oil was draining, Daniel made quick work of changing out the spark plugs and plug wires. He also changed the oil and fuel filters. Then he re-plugged the oil pan and put fresh oil in to the engine. He topped off the tanks with fresh diesel from a few gas cans and closed them up.

Now Daniel walked through his salvage yard and grabbed a bundle of three-foot long iron bars that were actually one-inch strap iron. Being one inch wide and 3/8 inch thick, they could be bent to hold any shape desired. Daniel took these into his garage and laid them by his welder. Then Daniel went back out into the yard and through the various stacks of scrapped steel, until he found two pieces of four-inch steel girder, one longer than the other. He drug those into the shop and dropped them next to the strap iron. Then he walked over to a wall that had several dozen steel plates leaning against it and selected two of them. The first steel plate was four feet to a side; the other was two feel long and one-foot wide; both were a half-inch thick.

Daniel said not a single word to anyone as he went about doing whatever it was he had planned, and if anyone said something to him, he didn't seem to hear it. Everyone could tell that he was concentrating on what was going on in his head.

Grabbing a pair of angle grinders from among the tools that were scattered everywhere around the shop, he selected one that had a standard grinding wheel on it and another that had a cutting wheel on it.

The salvage operator pulled on his gloves that were lying on top of the welder, but didn't bother with the welding goggles. Then he grabbed the shorter of the two girders and began cutting it in half. Once he did that, he fired up the TIG welder and pulled on the goggles. He wasn't using a tape measure, but then he didn't really need one as he took the two pieces of girder and laid them against the longer one to form the shape of a ten foot cross. Daniel welded the cross together and then welded the smaller plate to the center of it. Daniel then used the welder to write Chinook's name on the center plate in raised letters that were more than half an inch tall. Then he grabbed one of the pieces of strap iron and using the framework of his tool bench, he began bending it. He bent three others to match the first and welded them to the sides of the cross that he'd made. He continued in this fashion until he'd constructed a very ornate iron cross, similar to those made and used by German settlers during the 1800's. The difference was in size. Where the originals were three to four feet tall, this one was ten feet tall. Daniel set the four-foot square plate on the floor of his shop and stood the cross on it. He locked it into place with magnetic clamps and tacked it down with the welder. Removing the clamps, he began to weld the cross down in earnest.

Daniel pulled off the goggles and stepped back to let the cross cool down for a minute before he leaned over and laying it across his shoulder picked up the now three hundred pound monument to his friend. He didn't ask for help, and somehow he didn't seem to need it. Daniel carried the cross to the front edge of the pit that he'd dug and set it down into the nook that he'd put there for that purpose.

Then he grabbed an old wheelbarrow and rolled it into the shop.

Setting the wheelbarrow down Daniel grabbed a bag of cement and tossed it in. He tore the bag open and dumped it. He got a water hose, mixed up the concrete with a beat up shovel, and rolled the wet cement over to the cross. He poured the concrete over the base plate of the cross and tossed the wheelbarrow aside.

Daniel walked back to his wrecker and placed his hand on the driver's door latch. He seemed to be thinking, as if there were something he'd missed. Then with a quick move, he went over and grabbed Chinooks bedding and toys. He put those on the back of the wrecker and got the food and water bowls. Then Daniel got in the truck and cranked it up.

The old wrecker seemed to sound rejuvenated as the engine cranked over. Daniel backed out of the garage and drove the wrecker down into the pit that he'd dug. He sat there a second before he turned off the engine and got out. He moved Chinooks body into the driver seat and placed all the bedding and toys in the back seat; arranging them as if to be used. Then Daniel set out fresh water and food in the seat for his friend.

Daniel unclipped the keys to the wrecker and put them back in the ignition. Then he locked the doors and closed it up. The weight of the world seemed to be on the salvage operator's shoulders as he walked out of that pit and away from the wrecker and his friend. He climbed up in the backhoe and started it up. Turning the seat around, he faced the controls to the large bucket at the other end. Daniel put the backhoe in gear and began to bury both the wrecker and his friend at the same time.

When the massive grave was filled back in Daniel shut down the backhoe and jumped down. He walked over to the cross and laid his hand on it.

"Well Buddy, you gave it one hell of a run. A better friend I couldn't have asked for. I hope this old truck takes your spirit wherever you want to go, because I know that no one will ever bother it again. It's all yours now." Daniel said quietly.

Author's note's.

This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Chinook. 4/18/92 – 9/11/08. Rest in Piece my friend, I hope I'll see you on the other side.


	9. Chapter 9

ROH Chapter 9

_Author's note: Sorry it's been so long since the last update, things have been a bit radical lately. I will say that the next chapter IS already in progress and will be out to you ASAP. In the meantime this one is a little longer than usual so enjoy. :-)_

Daniel took his hand down from the cross, and slowly walked away. He couldn't think of a better way to say goodbye to his friend, but he'd done the best that he knew how. Daniel looked around the scrap yard as if looking for something. That was when he realized that he'd just buried the only running vehicle that he had.

To the complete surprise of all the Autobots present, Barricade stepped forward and transformed into his alt mode. Without a word, he opened the driver side door, and sat there, waiting. Daniel walked over and got in. The return trip to Hoover Dam was made in silence. Neither spoke a word, since both were occupied with their thoughts.

Barricade remembered the events he'd witnessed when he first came online in the human's shop. He had to give the human credit for a major set of bearings. After all, he couldn't think of too many full sized mechs that would be willing to take on that many frontline Autobots while armed with only a simple improvised melee weapon. But while that in itself was surprising enough on its own. There was also the fact that he had actually proven fairly successful at it. Barricade still could not get the image of the renowned, but prone Autobot Weapon Specialist asking for repairs out of his processor. Every time he thought about that scene, he wanted to laugh until his armor came off.

_**The mighty Ironhide, laid low by a mere human a fraction of his size.**_ Barricade thought to himself. Then he remembered just what it had felt like when Ratchet had hit him with a thrown object. The sheer intensity of the pure rage that he'd felt boiling across their bond.

_**I wonder if that's how angry Slag and Frag get when they fight. It would seem to make sense with the amount of damage they take and then just ignore when they're in battle. At least that female knew what to do; otherwise, he would have attacked Hatchet with his bare hands. Maybe I can find a way to ask him about that later.**_ Barricade thought.

Daniel was almost completely unaware of the return trip to Hoover Dam; he was almost lost in a world of memories. Daniel wasn't thinking about his friend because he was grieving, well he was, but in a way that was all his own. Because of the neurological damage, Daniel wasn't able to feel the full range of normal emotions. So he spent his time remembering Chinook. Then, every now and again, he might feel a brief flash of something that might have been true grief, and he would reach for it, only to have it slip away as if it had never been. Daniel truly regretted that the old hybrid was dead, but even more he regretted that he didn't really feel anything in regards to that loss. That angered him.

It angered him, because Daniel felt; he truly believed that his friend deserved better from him than what he was currently getting. It wasn't that he didn't care about the hybrid, because that couldn't be farther from the truth. Daniel knew that in the next few weeks he would wake up many times thinking that he'd somehow forgotten to check on his friend only to realize that Chinook was gone. That was part of the reason he'd buried his wrecker with the old hybrid. Daniel knew that he would never be able to get in that wrecker again without checking to see if Chinook was in it and ready to go. He knew that on those occasions there would be that same blank void that he was feeling now. That hollow emptiness, which would not allow him to hold on to anything.

Daniel would have given anything he owned to be able to feel the grief that he often saw others express. Daniel had been to the funerals of both family and friends. He'd seen people fall to their knees screaming their pain and anguish to the entire universe as they pulled at their hair, or beat their fists against the ground. They had no clue just how lucky they were to be able to feel that pain and loss. To watch a loved one die, and feel absolutely nothing one way or the other, that was the curse of Daniel's brain damage. It was as if the deceased had no meaning to him anymore. He would find himself missing their presence in his life, much the same way a person with long hair suddenly getting it cut short misses the feeling that is no longer there. It was that inability to feel the losses that really angered Daniel, and he knew that there was nothing he could do about it.

Barricade rolled to a stop in what was now the med bay and opened the driver side door. Daniel got out and promptly lit a smoke. Daniel didn't even look back as the former Decepticon transformed, nor did he think to thank him for the ride. Daniel was headed to his workbench to pick up where he had left off.

Ratchet, Jazz and Prime entered the med bay to find Barricade watching Daniel curiously. Barricade noticed the questioning look that the medic gave him and responded through a com link.

"_**He really is glitched. He doesn't feel that loss at all. I can tell that he WANTS to feel something, but the ability just isn't there. That bothers him more than anything right now." **_Barricade sent.

"_**Humpf! Why would you even care? He's just another squishy to you isn't he?"**_ The medic shot back irritably.

Barricade rounded on the medical officer and would have attacked him right then, were it not for the fact that he'd given his word.

"_**My reasons for caring are my own! But if you really need a reason, I'll give you two. One. He saved my live twice over. Two. Whether I like it or not he is now my spark brother. You saw what he did back there. He created a monument that will outlast several of his lifetimes, and for what? So he could honor the memory of his friend. How many memorials have you built to honor a fallen friend? What items of value have you sacrificed in order to honor someone's memory? I'll tell you how many Autobot. None. That alone has earned him my respect. Now I am asking you, as Chief medical Officer of the Autobots, if there is anything you can do about it." **_Barricade replied angrily.

"_**I'm not certain, but I think that your nanites may eventually repair the damage in time. Especially since they seem to be repairing the rest of his injuries at a highly accelerated rate." **_Ratchet answered in a surprisingly calm tone.

Barricade was about to say something else when the blast of a high-powered plasma cannon filled the med bay. Instantly all optics and several pairs of eyes turned to look over at Daniel, who stepped back away from the workbench and slowly turned around blinking rapidly.

"Ok. Someone wanna hand me a Java, since I can't see shit except for a damned big assed glow in front of my face." Daniel said calmly.

Five separate scanners focused on the salvage operator at the same time. Five separate scanners found him to be uninjured. Four sets of optics blinked in surprise. One vocal processor produced a snicker. Four sets of optics focused on the source. It was Barricade who had laughed. Then he was joined by Daniel who was also laughing. The four Autobots looked back and forth between the two trying to figure out what was so funny.

"Ker fucking boom." Daniel said still laughing. "Hey, did I hit it?"

"**Hit what?" **Barricade asked in surprise.

"Whatever the fuck was in front of that BFG." Daniel said with a snicker.

Five sets of optics looked up at the large scorch mark on the ceiling of the med bay.

"**You hit the roof."** Barricade answered.

"In that case, is it coming down?" Daniel asked with a slight tone of concern.

"**No, it isn't. Why? Do you want it to?" **Ratchet demanded angrily.

"Well, I figure if I'm gonna shoot at something, I might as well kill it or blow it to hell. So it looks like I'm gonna have to up the power on that thing. Note to self, wear eye goggles next time. Hey is somebody gonna hand me a Java or at least gimme some directions?" Daniel asked.

"**Two point three feet behind you and five feet to your current left." **Ratchet replied.

"Hmm. Ok. No problem. Thanks for nothing, Bones." Daniel answered as he tried to follow the instructions while totally blinded by the glare from the plasma cannon. Daniel managed to find the can of Java only to realize that it was an empty can as soon as he picked it up. "Oh yeah. Really funny Ratchet." Daniel said irritably.

The medic laughed in reply. **"You need to slow down on that caffeine anyway."** He said with a snicker.

Daniel was about to reply with a scathing retort when he felt something pressed into his hand. It turned out to be an unopened can of Java.

"Who do I thank for this?" he asked with a genuine smile.

"Consider it a little bit of thanks for getting me involved in this." Maigan answered.

"No problem, Kiddo. I figured you'd get a bang out of it." Daniel replied as he shot a glare in the general direction of the medic's voice.

Twelve minutes, two Java's, and one cigarette later Daniel's vision had returned. He'd gone back to tinkering with the plasma cannon, and had managed not to fire it off a second time.

Ratchet was thinking about the nanites in Daniel's body. Something about them kept nagging at the medic, and it had to do with those nanites. Then it hit him. If the nanites were able to repair one human, why not others?

Ratchet's optics suddenly flew wide open in shock as he realized the implications of his thoughts. **"Figueroa!" **He bellowed as he ran to grab a sample of Bonecrusher's nanites.

"What the hell bit him in the ass?" Daniel asked as the medic's heavy tread shook his workstation.

"Figueroa was one of the men with Capt. Lennox's team during the battle in Mission city. He lost both of his legs during the attack and has been fighting for his life since then." Agent Bannacheck answered.

"In that case let's hope that whatever Bones has in mind works." Daniel replied turning back to his little project.

Just then, the plasma cannon went off again. This time a pile of armor plating on the far side of the med bay took the blast. The salvage operator had had the good sense to close his eyes this time, so he wasn't blinded by the blast.

That was when a very large black hand reached down and grabbed the plasma cannon.

"**Who the pit gave this glitched out slagger a fragging plasma cannon?"** Iron Hide demanded.

Daniel turned around to face the black weapons specialist.

"Damnit Tackleberry! Go find your own damn toy and give mine back!" Daniel demanded angrily as he turned around.

"**No! You shouldn't be playing with this slagging thing to begin with. We've been ordered NOT to let you have access to any fire arms, and I'm sure that it includes Cybertronian versions!" **The black mech retorted.

"Yeah? Well, nobody fuckin told me that, so you can just give it back!" Daniel growled as he snatched up his crowbar and stormed towards the black mech.

It was perfectly clear that all hell was about to break loose when a pair of very large black hands reached out and took not only Daniel's weapon of choice, but also the plasma cannon that he had been working on.

"**Optimus! Ya can't be thinkin of givin that back to him!"** Ironhide protested loudly.

"No kiddin! He's bad enough with a crow bar, now he wants to play with one of their space guns? No way man!" Sgt. Epps added.

Daniel didn't bother to ask when they had gotten back from wherever it was they'd gone. He was too busy trying to think of a way to get his new toy back from someone that he seriously doubted would be intimidated into doing so. That left reasoning as a last resort, and possibly outright pestering if it came to it.

"Gimme back my cannon, Big Rig." Daniel calmly demanded.

"**No. You have fired this too many times already. I will not have you endangering yourself or anyone else in this facility while playing with technology that is obviously too advanced for you." **Optimus replied in a fatherly tone, while trying not to be too condescending.

"Look Big Rig. The first time was to set the trigger. The second time was to make sure that I would be able to adjust the intensity of the shot. If you'll take a look, you'll see a set of controls on the bottom of that thing along with a pair of sights to aim that sucker. Now, that I have all that set, all I need is a Hummer to mount it on." Daniel informed the Autobot leader.

Optimus turned the now deceased Blackout's plasma cannon over to examine it. Sure enough, there was now a pair of controls that could be used by human hands. Only one thing confused him though, and he voiced his curiosity.

"**Why would you place the aiming sights on the bottom of the cannon? Wouldn't that make it a little tough to be accurate?" **He asked looking down at the salvage operator.

Daniel nodded his head. "It might, but it will also make sure that who ever is firing that thing will be able to avoid hitting whatever vehicle it's mounted on." Daniel explained reasonably. "Now I just need a hummer to put it on." He added with a grin.

"Unh uh! Ain't no way you stickin that on no Hum V! We don't use those things, so you got to go with an LRV." Sgt. Epps told Daniel plainly.

"What the fuck is an LRV?" Daniel demanded turning to Epps.

"LRV stands for Light Reconnaissance Vehicle. Think military issue dune buggy!" Sgt. Epps explained with some obvious enthusiasm.

Daniel grinned like a maniac. "Small, fast, maneuverable, and now packing enough fire power to take on an armored tank column! I LIKEEEEE it!" He said nodding his head with that crazed grin still plastered on his face.

Daniel turned back to Optimus intending to ask to have the cannon back but found that Ironhide was examining it intently with a look of intense curiosity on his features.

"**Humpf! For someone who's never seen a plasma cannon before, this is slagging good work! I'm just glad that Blackout never made these modifications to it." **The black mech admitted grudgingly.

"Not too shabby for someone who's never seen this kind of technology before huh?" Daniel asked him grinning smugly.

"**That's what YOU think! Look at the mounts you had this on, they're twisted so bad, you'll never be able to use 'em again! Just because they fire energy plasma doesn't mean they don't have a slagging recoil!" **Ironhide began to lecture.

Just then, the weapons specialist stiffened, and his optics went as wide as they could go.

Daniel wasn't the only human present to notice this reaction, as each of the Autobots were acting in a similar, yet different manner. Almost everyone was about to start asking questions, when Optimus spoke.

"**Agent Simmons, can you get the Secretary of Defense John Keller in here for me please? We have an urgent matter that we need to discuss with him. It seems that reinforcements are on the way." **The Autobot leader asked in a grave tone.

Not liking the tone with which Optimus had made the request, Simmons knew that it was serious. He made a quick call from his cell phone and hung up.

"He'll be here shortly. It seems he's in a meeting, but he'll get down here as soon as he can." Simmons informed Optimus.

Just then, Capt. Lennox pulled in driving a beach bum's dream machine. Solid black, with beefed up off road suspension, and a high power four wheel drive power train; the military issue LRV was the ultimate dune buggy!

"Hey, Daniel! See if you can really find a way to mount that thing on this for me." Capt. Lennox asked with a smile.

Daniel took one look at the dune buggy and his eyes lit up as he walked over to examine it. Someone had installed a Porsche engine from a 911 Turbo in it, and that coupled with the four wheel drive transmission made sure that it could get almost anywhere in a serious hurry.

"Hey Buzz! Can you put this thing over by my work bench so's I can make some modifications to it?" Daniel asked the black and yellow scout with a grin.

Bumble Bee didn't say a word, but picked up the LRV and placed it where Daniel could work on it by way of answer.

"Thanks!" Daniel said simply as he started grabbing steel plates, and bars to weld a platform to mount the plasma cannon on.

Ironhide watched with interest as Daniel simply grabbed materials and went at it. He wasn't really measuring things but was instead eyeballing his measurements. Ironhide was surprised to see that he was fairly accurate, and only had to re cut a piece every now and then.

The LRV already had a mount for a .50 cal machine gun, and Daniel used that as a base to begin installing the plasma cannon. He started by adding a lot extra supports to the mounting brackets. Then he began installing the cannon itself. In less than thirty minutes, he was ready to install a small tank of energon to power the cannon.

"**Humpf, not bad! You've set that thing up so that it will actually provide some cover for whoever is using it. Just make sure that they never crank it up beyond ten percent if they're firing to the side, or they'll flip that little contraption."** Ironhide snorted after checking out Daniel's work.

Daniel motioned Sgt. Epps over and started explaining how to operate the controls he'd installed on the alien cannon. By the time he was done, both men were grinning like a pair of kids turned loose in a candy store and told to eat all they wanted.

Sgt. Epps and Daniel both wanted to take the LRV out for a spin to try out the new firepower, when Sec Def Keller walked in accompanied by Agent Bannacheck.

Keller walked straight over to Optimus, and asked what he needed.

"Simmons said that you needed to speak with me about something urgent. Well, what is it?" Keller asked not beating around the bush.

"**I'll get right to the point. More Autobots are on their way to Earth. We've received a communications signal from them stating that they will arrive in a few days time."** Optimus stated bluntly.

"Ok, so more friends are on the way. What's the problem with that?" Keller asked somewhat puzzled.

"**The problem lies in that they will be arriving in the Ark. It is a Cybertronian vessel of immense size and capable of transporting a few thousand of us." **Optimus informed Keller gravely. **"Your government has made it clear that we are to remain a secret. I do not know if this will be possible because of the sheer size of the Ark itself. We will need some place to land the vessel. The transmission that we received was garbled and incomplete, which suggests that some of the Autobots onboard may be in need of medical attention. They will need a place to land when they do arrive."** The Autobot leader continued.

"Well, when you say immense size, just how big are we talking about?" Keller asked giving Optimus a hard look.

"That thing would have to be a hell of a lot bigger than a damned aircraft carrier just to hold that many people as large as Jazz here, forget about the others! This means we're talking one damned big piece of fucking machinery!" Daniel burst in.

"**The Ark is as long as four of your aircraft carriers and as wide and tall as two placed side by side and stacked on top of one another." **Optimus said quietly trying not to overwhelm the humans with something that would seem incomprehensible to them.

Daniel turned to the closest mech to him, which happened to be Bumble Bee. "Wait a damn minute! You tellin me that this ark of yours is meant to land? On the ground?" Daniel demanded in pure disbelief.

The yellow scout nodded his head enthusiastically in reply.

Keller had witnessed the yellow and black mech's response to the question. He ran a shaking hand through his hair as he tried to get an overworked brain to function again.

"Simmons! Call in everybody who's actually met these people, and everybody here that knows about 'em. We need to get some more brains on this problem pronto!" Keller snapped at the former Sector 7 agent.

Agent Simmons made exactly one call from his cell phone, and within minutes, the med bay started filling up with people filing in. Keller waited until everyone was present before presenting them with the problem. When he did more than one person sat down heavily as their mind refused to acknowledge the sheer size of the problem at hand. A weighted silence fell on the room for more than a minute before it was broken by a source that almost no one expected.

"AREA 51 MAN! Area 51. Land it right there! They can park it next to Hanger 18!" Glen exclaimed excitedly.

Every pair of eyes and optics in the room turned to look at the heavyset computer geek.

"Son, have you lost your mind?" Keller asked with concern.

"Yeah! No shit! What he said. Do you have any fucking idea how many idiots are out there stalking that place every fucking night looking for flying saucers and UFOs?" Daniel demanded in exasperation.

"So! Nobody believes 'em anyway! So who cares?" Glen shot back confidently.

That one comment shut both men up along with any objection they might have had. It also got Daniel to thinking.

"I hate to say it, but he's got a point. Even if somebody gets pictures, who's going to believe a ship that big even exists." Sam stated.

"Somehow I can't seem to come up with a single argument for that." Keller said after thinking about it for a few seconds.

"JOHN ROBERT KELLER! THERE YOU ARE! What do you think you're doing running off while we are supposed to be on vacation? And WHY are you interrupting our vacation to have a stupid meeting?" The woman stormed straight up to her husband, and had been so busy haranguing the man that she hadn't noticed any of the Autobots, until Optimus moved to provide some room for the two humans.

"Now Margaret, These folks only needed a few minutes of my time. We've got things straightened out now, so I can go wherever it is that you want." Keller said in an attempt to placate his angry wife.

"What the devil are THOSE?" Mrs. Keller demanded from her husband pointing at one of the Autobots.

"**We are autonomous robotic life forms from the planet Cybertron. Your government has graciously allowed us to make a home here since our world has been rendered lifeless."** Optimus answered trying to divert the irate woman's attention.

"Are you sure they're not dangerous?" She whispered to her husband while Optimus was talking. Keller shook his head in response.

"And just why would The United States do such a thing, if I may ask?" Mrs. Keller asked Optimus suspiciously.

"Uh, maybe because they sacrificed THEIR world to save OURS!" Daniel piped up.

"And who might you be that you're so quick to interrupt a private conversation?" She promptly demanded of Daniel.

"I happen to be someone that doesn't like having a critical life and death situation interrupted by someone's personal matters. Now OBVIOUSLY, given the fact that there ARE alien life forms here, this would SEEM to call for some diploma . . . whatever that word is. And YOU aren't showing any. It might, just MIGHT also call for the personal attention of the Secretary of Defense. Don't you think?" Daniel shot back instantly.

"Now you just hold on there son! You may be certifiably insane, but that's my WIFE you're talkin too! And I won't put up with that for one damned minute, do you understand me?" Keller snapped at the salvage operator.

"She started it!" Daniel replied pointing at the still fuming Mrs. Keller.

Sec Def Keller just stared at Daniel until the junkyard owner turned to do something else.

"Epps! Let's go shoot something with that cannon, I set up." Daniel yelled to the Tech Sergeant.

"Can't do it man. Still gotta figure out where we're gonna hide a ship the size of the Empire State Building!" Sgt. Epps shot back.

"Nellis Air force base is a sound suggestion. Bannacheck, you do what needs to be done to make that a reality, in the meantime, I'm back on vacation!" Keller said as he escorted his wife from the room.

Agent Bannacheck nodded his acknowledgement to Keller, before walking over to a still irritated Daniel.

"You don't have enough sense to back down from much of anything do you?" Bannacheck asked him, not really expecting an answer.

"NOPE!" Daniel instantly shot back with a grin.

Agent Bannacheck shook his head, not having any idea on how to respond to that.

"Ok. Since we now have a ship full of Autobots coming in, and we now know where we're going to land it. We need a team to head to Nellis to get them prepared for what's coming their way. Daniel, since Ratchet is obviously busy, you'll be going along to make sure that a proper med bay is set up in case of injuries. You'll be accompanied by Capt. Lennox and his team. This means that you'll be taking Ironhide, Jazz, and Bumble Bee at the least. I'll need Optimus here to try to get some estimates on what type of contingent we're looking at. Anyone got any suggestions on what to do with Barricade?" Bannacheck told the group.

"Well, if you want an eye kept on him then I say take him with us to Nellis. That'd be the best solution all the way around. And yes, I'll ride with him, that way nobody gets the heebie-jeebies from being inside an evil alien robot that wants to kill everything." Daniel answered.

"WOW! That's got to be the longest speech he's ever made without cussing." Maigan told Mikeala jokingly.

"I heard THAT!" Daniel called out to his niece.

Everyone could hear the three teens burst out laughing at that comment.

"**I have no objections to going along for the ride, as long as someone makes sure to keep that slagger's cannons pointed in a safe direction!" **Barricade put in angrily.

"**Oh, is the murderous little butcher worried about my cannons?" **Ironhide asked condescendingly.

"**Yes, I AM! And you have no right to accuse me of being a murderer, Autoslagger! At least I have always made my kills face to face! But I know for a fact that YOU have killed helpless civilians!" **Barricade shot back instantly in a tone dripping with venom.

Ironhide grabbed the black and white mech and slammed him into a wall, pinning him there.

"**I have never, and I mean never targeted the helpless in my entire life!" **The weapons specialist growled in a rage as he shoved one of his famed cannons in Barricade's face.

Barricade's left arm snapped out in a blur to land against Ironhide's head, knocking the cannon aside, and staggering the larger mech with ease. Barricade then grabbed the black mech with his right hand and spun quickly, pinning the Autobot to the same wall he'd just been against.

"**Really? Is that REALLY true, Ironhide? I seem to recall that a mere few days ago, you had me at the end of those cannons of yours, and you weren't going to even wait for orders before offlining me, now were you?"** Barricade demanded.

"**Admit it Autobot! You've always enjoyed killing helpless bots even more than you think I do. This war was nothing but an excuse for you to get your sick pleasure out of killing more bots, wasn't it? I WAS THERE THE DAY MY CREATORS WERE MURDERED AUTOBOT!"** Barricade finished with a bellow.

With each statement, Barricade had slammed the larger mech into the wall to punctuate his words.

Suddenly a tennis ball of all things was ricocheting back and forth between the two mechs managing to hit both of them right between the optics.

Even Optimus had to reset his optics in surprise as he saw Daniel twirling a large crowbar in each hand. The salvage operator seemed to be grinning wildly, ready to hit both mechs indiscriminately as the crazed little human went storming towards the two mechs with a purpose.

Optimus was just about to grab Daniel to keep both mechs from killing him, when the human suddenly stopped and glared up at the two fighting mechs.

"**You little slagging glitch! If you EVER do that to me again. . ."** Barricade began.

"You'll WHAT? Get dropped like a bad habit! I may not be invincible. But I got a mean streak bigger than any sumbitch in any comic book! An I'll just bet that my mean streak is a hell of a lot bigger than yours too!" Daniel interrupted.

Everyone was staring at Daniel in disbelief. No one was really willing to face up against even one of these two mechs unless they HAD too, but Daniel hadn't hesitated in taking on BOTH of them.

"**Weren't you ordered NOT to use those against us? What about our deal?"** Ironhide demanded angrily as he saw the crowbars in Daniel's hands.

"Awww, don't you worry about it much, Tackleberry! I didn't bust you up the way I did the last time. So both of you can either get done with your little bonding ritual or save it till the end of the war! Either way, shut up about it!" Daniel ranted loudly.

Both mechs separated quickly in disgust as they glared down at the human.

Optimus grabbed the bridge of his nose and blew a massive jet of air out of his cooling vents.

"**I can already see that this is going to be one long vorn!"** The Autobot leader lamented softly.

Daniel just stood there glaring at the two mechs, as if daring them to try something else. Bumble Bee was shaking with suppressed laughter at the scene in front of him, while Jazz had no reason to hold it back.

"**It's about time somebody got Hide in line!"** The saboteur cracked.

"**Yeah, well just wait till he gets a hold of you with one of those slagging things!"** Ironhide taunted back.

"**After seeing what he just did to you? I ain't stupid enough to give him a reason too!" **Jazz shot back laughing heartily.

"Are you going to be able to keep those two under control?" Bannacheck asked Daniel candidly.

Daniel nodded as he lit a smoke. "If a crowbar don't do it, then I got a little something else that WILL convince 'em that I mean business."

Agent Bannacheck eyed the salvage operator speculatively, before nodding his approval. "If you're sure. But. Just a little warning. The personnel at Nellis are not going to take this lightly, so I suggest that you let Capt. Lennox make the introductions." He told Daniel in an obviously patronizing tone.

"Can ya tell me something I didn't know two minutes ago?" Daniel shot back in the same tone.

Bannacheck actually smiled at that.

"I think you'll do fairly well in this business." He said with a smirk.

That made Daniel blink in surprise. A compliment was one of the last things he'd been expecting. With a negligent shake of his head, the junkyard owner turned his attention to his ice chest. He was pleasantly surprised to find it fully stocked and also full of ice.

"You'll find that our bosses tend to do what it takes to keep us happy. It helps make sure that we stay good at our jobs. That's why they put in the Starbucks. When we get a more permanent setup, you'll probably have a refrigerated cooler stocked with those things. Any particular flavor you prefer?" Agent Simmons spoke from behind Daniel.

"Anything except that damned 'Lo-Bal'!" Daniel replied happily.

Simmons nodded. "No problem. They'll get someone on it. We've got a battalion of aids that make sure things run smoothly around here. You don't always see 'em, but that doesn't stop 'em from getting their job done." Simmons informed him.

Daniel nodded after gathering up what he wanted to take with him on the road trip.

"Ok people, let's load up! I want one LRV in the front. Tackleberry, you're next in line, with Buzz Boy next. Then me and Mister Badass, after that, Jazz. The LRV with the space gun brings up the rear. So let's hit the road people. Boogity, boogity, boogity!" Daniel bellowed to the room at large.

"I'm top man on the cannon!" Sgt. Epps yelled out happily, as he climbed in the back of the now modified LRV.

"Any particular reason you want that kind of firepower in the rear?" Capt. Lennox asked curiously.

"Yeah, I want that cannon sitting back there to keep a pair of jokers in line." Daniel replied loudly enough that both mechs who were still glaring at each other could hear it. "That's mainly for Tackleberry, if the scrap yard reject gets out of line, I'll take one of my crowbars to his dashboard, and rip his engine out from the inside!" Daniel added making sure that Barricade heard it.

Every mech in the room, Ironhide included, cringed at those words. A second or two later, the silver saboteur could be heard laughing.

"**Primus! If that's how he treats a friend, then ya gotta wonder what he'd do to his enemies!"** Jazz said still laughing at the obvious discomfort of the two mechs at which Daniel's comments had been aimed.

The men that were to accompany Capt. Lennox were getting geared up, and ready to go. All that was left to do was actually get in the vehicles. The mechs had transformed, but none of the soldiers were getting in, instead they were looking at Daniel as if he'd lost what was left of his mind.

Daniel noticed this and looked at Capt. Lennox curiously. "Is there something they're waiting for?" Daniel asked confused.

"Yeah. That would be an order from someone in their chain of command, which isn't you." The Army captain answered with a light smile. "Mount up men!" He ordered.

Within three seconds, everyone but the salvage operator and the Army captain were ready to go.

"Damn! And here I was thinking I was actually running something for once." Daniel remarked ruefully with a shake of his head.

That brought a loud chorus of laughter from every last one of the soldiers who had clearly heard the loud complaint. Even several of the mechs had to laugh at the salvage operator's expense. Needless to say, Daniel wasn't too happy about being the butt of the joke. He grabbed his ice chest and his two favorite crowbars, and climbed into Barricade's cabin.

Daniel put his ice chest on the passenger floorboard, his CD case in the passenger seat, and then he put his crowbars in the rack that would normally be occupied by the police issue shotgun.

Seeing that Capt. Lennox still hadn't given the order to move out, Daniel decided that he wanted to help things along with a hint.

"Hey! Switch over to the racing Hemi!" Daniel told the black and white Saleen.

A few clanks and the sounds of whirling gears could be heard as Barricade did just that. Daniel could almost feel the mech grin with delight as the hood reformed around the massive supercharger.

The stuttering roar of a top fuel racing engine filled the med bay as soon as Daniel turned the key. Everyone clearly heard the heavily modified engine, and turned to look. Soldiers were sticking their heads out of windows, and craning their necks to see what was making the noise. Daniel and Barricade both took an almost sadistic pleasure in the powerful revving of the massive engine. Then, Daniel goosed the accelerator a few times to get his point across.

"**Slagging pits of the matrix! Does he have some kind of seeker's engine or something? He's got meter long jets of flame coming out of his fragging aft!" **Ironhide bellowed in surprise as he saw Barricade's exhaust.

Daniel laughed as he leaned out the window to look at the black Topkick.

"Not quite, but pretty damned close!" Daniel yelled with a grin.

When the order was finally given to hit the road, Daniel kept revving Barricade's engine maliciously. Occasionally squealing the tires, Daniel was giving a not too subtle hint that he wanted to move a bit faster. Once they had left the Hoover Dam complex, the group did just that. Moving down the highways at 80 miles an hour, they were eating up the distance rapidly.

An hour into the trip, Daniel cracked open a Java Russian, and popped a ZZ Top CD into Barricade's player. Barricade promptly spit it out. Not really thinking about what had just happened, Daniel grabbed the CD and stuck it back in. This time Barricade spit it out hard enough to make it hit the passenger seat.

"What the FUCK?! You bust my CD an I'm gonna bust yore ass!" Daniel warned getting pissed.

"**I do NOT want to listen to any of that slagging waste that you humans mistakenly call music!" **Barricade growled irritably.

"Tough fuckin shit! I wanna listen to Billy, Dusty, and Frank. Three guys playing the same three chords for three decades! I don't give a damn what you think, THAT takes skill!" Daniel informed the mech as he popped the CD in for the third time.

This time Barricade spit the CD into his back seat.

"**Next time it goes out the window!" **The Saleen warned in a deep growl.

Without saying a word, Daniel snatched up one of his crowbars and placed the end of it against the dashboard, right under the police style computer system. Then he reached back and grabbed the CD again.

"My CD goes out the window and half the shit in your dashboard will follow it." Daniel said flatly, as he slid the CD in a fourth time.

Barricade let the CD slide into his player, but he didn't start playing it. He could feel the human's anger, but then he also knew that the human could feel his as well. What Barricade didn't know, was that Daniel couldn't tell the difference between Barricade's anger and his own, and that Barricade's anger was only adding fuel to the fire.

Daniel started applying pressure on the crowbar.

"Play it." Daniel ground out.

"**NO."**

Daniel applied more pressure to the crowbar, and both the mech and the human winced from the pain that it caused.

"Play it!" Daniel snarled.

That was when Barricade realized exactly what was happening. He had seen how the human reacted to pain, and how crazed he could become. Barricade did NOT want that type of reaction going on in his interior, where he would be essentially helpless against whatever assault the human chose to dish out.

With the first notes of music, Daniel eased his crowbar away from the dash. When it continued to play, Daniel dropped his crowbar in the passenger seat, and grabbed his Java Russian from between his legs, where he'd been holding it.

"Thank you." Daniel snapped just before he took a slug of energized coffee.

Barricade didn't respond. Since he happened to like the group anyway, but what had really gotten on his neural receptors was that Daniel hadn't asked him to play the CD in the first place. He'd let the human have his way for now, but as far as Barricade was concerned, this was NOT over!

Then Daniel started rubbing his side as if trying to ease a pain there. Barricade knew that the sensory and emotional transfer of a spark bond went both ways, and he was beginning to see that Daniel couldn't tell the difference between his own feelings and senses, and those belonging to the Decepticon. That was when Barricade realized that his anger would only serve to increase the humans anger.

Daniel left all the windows down while he had a smoke. He made sure to use his pocket ashtray that he carried with him; even so, Barricade wasn't happy about it. Having been on Earth for several months had allowed the former Decepticon to learn quite a lot about humans in general. One of the many things he'd learned was just how irate smokers could get when they didn't have their cigarettes.

Barricade was having a difficult time keeping a tight reign on his emotions. He knew what was happening to the human, but as of yet there wasn't much he could do about it. Barricade knew that with him knowing that his emotions could affect the human, without that human's knowledge, he would have a slight advantage, IF he could find a way of capitalizing on it.

When the CD began it third repetition, Barricade couldn't stand it anymore. Even though he did like that particular band, hearing the same songs over and over, three times in a row was enough. Barricade popped the CD out.

As soon as the music stopped, Daniel was reaching for his crowbar. He had just put his hand on his tool of choice, when Barricade told him to choose a different CD. Daniel looked at the dashboard, then back at his crowbar. Then he snatched up his CD case and began rifling through it.

The CD that Daniel put in happened to be one that he'd ripped himself. It was full of instrumentals. Ranging from Trans Siberian Orchestra, to Manheim Steamroller, with some classical such as the 1812 Overture, and Flight of the Valkyries thrown in. When the CD got to a disco version of the Star Wars theme by Manheim Steamroller, Barricade could stand no more.

"**What in the slagging pits of the Matrix are you trying to do to me? Drive me right out of my processor?" **Barricade snarled at the human as he cut the CD off.

"I happen to like that stuff, why? You got a problem with musical variety?" Daniel retorted instantly.

"**When you start playing things to deliberately irritate me, then yes I DO have a problem with it!" **Barricade responded.

The salvage operator didn't say a word; he simply started rummaging through his CD case again. When he found what he was looking for, he held up the CD as if it were a prize.

"I could have popped this one in to play." He said with a grin.

Barricade scanned the CD, but didn't recognize the artist. Hitting the web to look up Jimmy Stur, Barricade was horrified to see that it was traditional polka music.

"**No. No. NO! No slagging way! If you stick that in my CD player, I swear on the spark of Primus that you will NEVER get it back!" **Barricade told the human finally.

"Well then you got a better idea?" Daniel quipped.

The former Decepticon didn't say anything; instead, he began to play a composition of Cybertronian origin. It was a simple piece by Cybertronian standards, but it did have a soothing tempo, and a relaxing tone.

"Hey can you rip that onto a CD?" Daniel asked when the song was over.

"**That will not fit onto one of your CD's. The file size is too large, because you are only able to hear a small part of the range of tones that are actually used in the song."** Barricade said simply.

"Oh. Got any more like that?"

Barricade didn't answer, but instead began to play more Cybertronian compositions. Soon, the Saleen was able to relax and enjoy the road while Daniel enjoyed the music. Forty-five minutes later, Daniel lit his second smoke and happened to glance at the side view mirror. Daniel's eyes bugged as he spotted the silver Pontiac Solstice, bouncing, bobbing, and weaving back and forth in time to the music that Barricade was playing.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Ham it up wise guy!" Daniel told the rear view mirror.

Barricade neither liked nor disliked the human that he'd found himself bonded to. He did have to give the squishy little flesh wad some credit though. The irritating little slagger didn't back down from much of anything. Barricade knew that he owed the human his life twice over, but he had no clue as to how to repay that debt. His honor was of supreme importance to Barricade, since it was almost the only thing he had left from his creators. They had taught him the meaning and definition of honor, and Barricade had struggled to live up to their ideals all through his time with the Decepticons. For personal reasons, joining the Autobots had been, and still was, out of the question. Still, Barricade had preserved his honor by making sure that each and every opponent that he faced in battle saw him coming from the start.

Hundreds of bots had fallen prey to his skill, weapons and even on occasion, his claws. Every one of them had seen his approach, and every one of them had known that their death was at hand. Barricade took great pride in the fact that never once during his entire career, had he ever allowed his actions to endanger a civilian. Frenzy had come very close to doing just that when he'd gone after the two teens, and Barricade had done the only thing he could think of at that time to prevent their deaths. He intentionally lost a fight. Barricade had no regrets, and no remorse about losing that fight. Even though it was one of the very few times that he'd lost, he'd done so without hesitation in order to maintain his honor and the ideals that he lived by.

Barricade was not about to join the Autobots for just any reason. Nor was he going to allow himself to be forced into it by Daniel. Barricade was almost certain that Daniel would want Barricade to repay his debt by helping to defend this world. That Barricade had no problem with, but how to do it without joining the Autobots, or otherwise sacrificing his honor. That was the problem that was eating at Barricade's processors.

In the meantime, Daniel was concerned about the type of reception that they'd receive at Nellis Air Force base. It was one thing to be acting under the direct orders of the Secretary of Defense, but it was something totally different to try to gain access to the largest military installation in the U.S.

Nearly the size of neighboring Las Vegas, Nellis Air Force base occupied the entire Groom lake valley and the surrounding mountains. It would be more than large enough to land the Space Shuttle, were it not for those mountains. Base security was so tight that nothing got within five miles of the base's perimeter without being identified and apprehended first. In fact, security was so tight that the only other installation the came close was the Cheyenne Mountain complex that housed the SAC and NORAD command centers. Only part of what made these installations so secure was that no reporters or other civilians were EVER allowed inside.

It was well known in military circles that UFO buffs were constantly trying to get close enough to Nellis to catch a glimpse of some top-secret aircraft being tested. It was also well known that none of them ever actually made it into the bordering mountains. Security was that tight. Now Daniel and the rest of them were going to commandeer the entire thing!

A few hours, ten cans of Java Monster and half a pack of smokes later, the entourage rolled up to the first checkpoint of the famed area 51. The MPs at the gate were meticulously going over the identification of everyone in the group. After they had spent more than a full hour verifying the groups credentials, they started with the interrogations.

"Your identification checks out. Now you're gonna tell me what you're doing here!" The first MP told Daniel in a no nonsense tone.

Daniel looked over at Capt. Lennox.

"Hey! Don't look at him for an answer! I asked you a direct question and you're going to answer it!" The MP said as he placed his hand on his side arm.

Daniel's eyes narrowed and his expression hardened, as he looked the MP straight in the eyes.

"That's classified as need to know, and YOU don't." Daniel ground out softly.

"You wanna bet on it? I'll throw your ass in the brig for fuckin month, before you even get a goddamned phone call!" The MP retorted as he unsnapped the holster to his side arm.

"You can try, but with the tight schedule we're on, it'll be less than a week before your frozen ass is guarding penguins in Antarctica!" Daniel shot back in a soft but deadly tone.

"Now I strongly suggest that you get your base commander on the phone, as in right now, because we are acting on direct orders from the Secretary of Defense, John Keller himself!" Daniel continued in the same tone.

The MP gave the salvage operator a hard stare for several seconds before making a quick motion to one of his fellow guards and walking into the gatehouse to use the phone.

Twenty minutes later, no less than ten Hum-V's rolled up to the gate. Every one of them was equipped with a top mounted fifty-caliber machine gun that was manned and loaded. The Hummers escorted the unusual group farther into the base and into a hanger where they were told to wait for the OOD.

They were soon greeted by a Colonel Anderson, who did not look very pleased at all to see them.

"All right, you've got your meeting, now you've got les than ten seconds to tell me what you're doing here, or every last one of you are going straight to the brig pending a full investigation!" Col. Anderson stated angrily.

Daniel opened the black and white Saleen's door and quickly grabbed his ice chest, crowbars and CD case. He had just backed out the open door when he felt the barrel of an AR-14 assault rifle being shoved none too gently against his head.

Daniel finished standing up, and slowly turned his head to glare at the OOD.

"Barricade! Stand up and step on this son of bitch if he doesn't get this fucking gun away from my head!" Daniel ordered as he dropped the ice chest and CD case.

Barricade could easily see that this was going wrong, and not wanting to find out just how painful the human's death would be, he did exactly as Daniel had told him.

With the first sounds of whirling gears, the soldiers that comprised base security backed up, then began gaping as a robot more than fifteen feet tall suddenly stood in their midst.

"Stand FAST! Nobody make any sudden moves! It only took one of these guys to destroy Soccent Air base in Qatar, and there's a few more than that in here!" Capt. Lennox spoke up in a tone of command.

"What the HELL is THAT?" Col. Anderson bellowed.

"Try HE, numb nuts!" Daniel bellowed back just as loud.

"**My NAME is Barricade! And you were told to take that gun away from his head!"** The black and white mech said as he glared at the guard who still hadn't moved.

Just then, the large black truck known as a GMC Top Kick 6500 transformed and whipped out his cannons, pointing them at Barricade.

"**Go ahead, step on him. I DARE ya!"** Ironhide told the former Decepticon with a menacing grin.

That was when the MP with the gun jammed in the back of Daniel's head wisely decided to slowly back away.

Daniel turned around to face the MP that had been holding the gun against his head.

"Smart move." Daniel grinned.

"Ok, do you wanna tell me just what the hell is going on here?" Col. Anderson demanded looking straight at Daniel.

"Well, it's like this. In less than 72 hours a big ass goddamned ship full of these guys is gonna be landing on THIS base, and we got to get this place ready for 'em, because they might be in need of some repairs. So not only do we got to get a med bay set up, BUT we STILL have to explain all this shit to the base commander; who STILL ain't here yet!" Daniel said irritably.

"General Mallory is going to shit a fucking brick." Col. Anderson said softly as he stared back and forth between Ironhide and Barricade.

"I think he's gonna do a lot worse than that, when he finds out the whole story." Capt Lennox said quietly.

With a single nod of his head, the OOD gave the order to contact General Mallory, and get him up to speed ASAP.

Barricade in the meantime had transferred his glare to Daniel.

"**If you ever try to shove a crowbar into my dash board again, I will make you suffer in ways that you wouldn't believe!" **He said in a low snarl.

Daniel turned around to find himself face to nose with a very pissed off Barricade. Daniel looked the former Decepticon straight in his optics and shrugged. A malicious grin spread slowly across the salvage operator's face, while at the same time an almost evil sparkle began to light up in his eyes.

"Try it!" He dared, as he lightly pinged the smaller of his two crowbars off the side of Barricade's head.

Barricade stood up with an enraged roar that with have put Megatron to shame. The black and white mech stepped back to get a little swinging room, and as he did, he found himself being tackled to the ground by both Bumble Bee and Ironhide, while Daniel had his hands full struggling with Jazz. All of the Autobots had reacted instantly, to separate the two combatants, and it was a very good thing they had, because each was starting to talk some serious trash.

"**Don't you ever do that again you over evolved microbial puddle!" **Barricade snarled.

"Bring it, you outdated, over rated reject from a junkyard!" Daniel retorted.

"**Flesh wad!"**

"Scrap heap!"

"**Meat bag!"**

"Rust bucket!"

"**Maggot breath!"**

"Bastardized Buick!"

"**Shit factory!"**

"Slag heap!"

"**Slime puddle!"**

"Rattle trap!"

"**Road kill!"** Barricade growled with a sinister grin.

"Ford!" Daniel shot back with out hesitation.

Every mech in the room turned to look at Daniel with that one.

"**Do you actually consider THAT an insult? How pathetic!" **Barricade sneered.

Daniel grinned triumphantly as he stared at the former Decepticon.

"FORD! Stands for Fuckin Old Rebuilt Dodge that you have to Fix Or Repair Daily, before it's Found On Road Dead!" Daniel explained grinning ever wider.

Barricade burst out laughing at that explanation.

"**Not bad for tiny little grease stain waiting to get stepped on." **Barricade said while still laughing.

"**You're as quick with an insult as you are with a crowbar."** Barricade continued as the two Autobots that were holding him eased up on their grip.

"And don't you ever forget it!" Daniel shot back with a grin after Jazz let him go.

Jazz had been almost forced to let Daniel go because he was laughing so hard. Ironhide and Bumble Bee were faced with the same problem.

"They're worse than me and my brother." One of the Mps said to his partner.

That got the attention of both the human, and the Decepticon at the same time.

"**You stay out of this!"**

Both the human and the Decepticon had spoken simultaneously.

That was the straw the broke the camel's back for Jazz. The silver saboteur fell on his aft laughing raucously.

It was at that point that everyone involved noticed just how many guns were currently being aimed in their direction. It seemed as if every MP on the base was aiming an automatic rifle at them.

"What the fuck is goin on?" Daniel asked as he looked down the barrels of more than two dozen assault rifles.

"Maybe that's what I should be asking you!" Col. Anderson retorted.

"How do I know this isn't some kind of distraction in order for one of your men to gain access to a highly classified area?" Col. Anderson demanded angrily.

Capt. Lennox gave a disgusted groan of disbelief as he shook his head.

"Keller really should have let us come alone. This would have gone a whole lot smoother, if he had." The army captain muttered in exasperation.

"I hear ya, Sir. That crazy fool's gonna get us all killed." Sgt. Epps added almost under his breath.

"If this is an attempt at a distraction, then it's one hell of a good one, and the sooner you get your CO down here, the sooner we can do our jobs. Which right now, involves taking LEGAL control over this ENTIRE BASE!" Daniel shot back to the OOD just as angrily.

"Really? And just what the hell makes you think that's gonna happen?" The colonel replied.

"Where the hell else are we gonna land and HIDE a space ship that happens to be bigger than a damned super tanker? I'll give ya a clue. It's right here!" Daniel retorted vindictively.

"Is this guy giving me the truth?" Col. Anderson asked dubiously looking over at Capt. Lennox.

"Yes, Sir. I'm afraid that he is." Capt. Lennox replied somberly.

"Well now isn't that just wonderful!" Col. Anderson growled sarcastically.

Daniel wasn't paying any attention to the conversation going on between the two officers. Instead, he was noticing the very apprehensive looks that the guards were giving to the Cybertronians.

"Hey, why don't you guys chill out and look like normal vehicles for a while? You guys might be bullet proof, but I don't care to get hit by a ricochet because of an itchy trigger finger." Daniel told the mechs.

There was some grumbling from one or two of the mechs, most notably Barricade, but they all resumed their alt modes fairly quickly. Seeing that the MPs eased up a bit, Daniel decided that it was time for a smoke.

Daniel reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cigs and his Zippo lighter. He wasn't paying any attention to what was going on around him as he got a smoke out and lit it. It wasn't until after his third drag on the cigarette, that he noticed the glares he was getting. The salvage operator shrugged his shoulders and kept on smoking.

Daniel had finished half the smoke when someone finally spoke up from behind him.

"You want to put that damned thing out?" A voice demanded angrily.

"Not particularly. Why?" Daniel asked as he turned around.

"Because smoking isn't allowed in here!" The man answered giving Daniel a look that might have melted steel.

Daniel slowly and deliberately looked around the hangar, noting the fact that there wasn't a single no smoking sign in sight.

"There ain't no signs sayin that." Daniel said still smoking as he turned to look at who was bossing him around.

"There doesn't need to be any signs, when I have a standing order that there is to be no smoking ANYWHERE on this base!" The General ground out angrily.

"I guess it sucks to be you trying to give orders to someone that is NOT under your command, now don't it?" Daniel shot back with a smart assed grin.

"Sergeant, put this man in the brig!" The General demanded.

"Try it and you'll end up taking my place for a LONG fucking time, ASSHOLE!" Daniel countered.

"And just how do you figure that?" The General shot back.

"Uh, Sir. These men are apparently under direct orders from SecDef to commandeer this base and prep it for use as an LZ for Aliens." Col Anderson stated none too happily.

"Their paperwork checks out?" The General demanded.

"Yes, Sir. I'm afraid it does." Col. Anderson answered sullenly.

"Fine! Col. Escort these men to my briefing room." General Mallory ordered.

"And You! Put that damned thing out!"

"I intend to, but not before I'm done with it." Daniel answered in a tone that dared someone to test him on it.

"Young man, don't you have enough sense to know when you're out matched?" General Mallory asked maliciously.

"Don't know. Never been outmatched before, and quite frankly, I don't see any reason for me to be outmatched now." The salvage operator stated with a boastful grin.

Several loud barks of laughter could be heard throughout the hangar, as the irate General looked around hastily for the source.

"I'm giving you a direct order to put that thing out this instant!" General Mallory snarled.

"Two problems with that!" Daniel began holding up two fingers of his right hand while taking another drag from his smoke with his left. "First, I'm not military. Second, even if I were in the military, I'm not under your command. All of which boils down to. . . . Shit in one hand, demand in the other, see which one fills up first!" Daniel retorted getting pissed all over again.

If expressions were capable of killing someone, there would not even have been a pile of smoking ashes left of the salvage operator as the General glared beams of pure annihilation at the cause of his ire.

Suddenly, unexpectedly the General smiled and nodded his head.

"Ok smart ass! You can have this round, but if it turns out that even for one tiny little instant that I can throw your ass in the stockade; you'll find yourself sitting inside the brig so fast you'll prove Einstein dead wrong!" General Mallory threatened ominously.

Daniel smiled and winked at the irate General in response. He didn't say anything as he deliberately followed Col. Anderson and the others to General Mallory's personal briefing room. Daniel did display enough sense to finish his smoke before he went in, but that wasn't enough to mollify the base C.O.

Once everyone was inside the General took his chair at the head of the table and ordered everyone to be seated. He scowled as he noticed that one person in particular hadn't waited for an invitation.

"Before we begin, if any of you gentlemen would care for a cigar, you may have one of my private stock. That does NOT apply to you!" The General offered with the last part being addressed to Daniel.

While none of the Special Forces members that had accompanied Capt. Lennox were smokers, they did have better sense than to turn down a General's hospitality.

The salvage operator didn't reply but did look inside the proffered humidor to see just what caliber of cigar the General smoked. When he saw what was in the box, Daniel nodded his head in appreciation.

"Hmmm. Monticino's! That's the brand Arturo Fuente himself smokes. He named those after his daughter, ya know." Daniel said in an offhand tone, which got him a surprised look from the General.

Then, with a truly evil grin, the salvage operator reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a metal cigar tube designed to keep a single cigar fresh. He clipped the end off and prepared to light it. Unlike the sweet aromatic aroma that had emerged from the cigars the General had offered the scent that arose from the monstrosity that Daniel hadn't even lit, could only be described as horrendously nauseating!

Capt. Lennox and Sgt. Epps were both looking at Daniel with horrified expressions on their faces, but then so was everyone else in the briefing room.

"What in the name of God is that unholy STENCH?" The General demanded as he stared at Daniel aghast.

"It's from Germany. I've often heard it referred to as a 'Wheelhouse Stogie'. I tend to save 'em for special occasions." Daniel answered with a lighthearted grin.

Even as the salvage operator had delivered his explanation, the Generals face and expression had fallen dramatically.

"All right. You win. I surrender. You can have one of mine and I won't even bother you about your damned cigarettes again. Just PLEASE for the love of God, don't light that thing up!" General Mallory pleaded in a nearly desperate tone.

Daniel couldn't help but burst out laughing. He knew that the German made cigar was the foulest thing ever invented by a smoker, and the stench it created when lit was even worse than that of a skunk and twice as strong. Smoking rooms across Europe had banned them in the late 19th century. Daniel did put the bane of both smokers and nonsmokers alike, back in its sealed tube. Daniel reached into his jacket pocket to put the stogie up, and came out with a second cigar tube. This one was a double cylinder that held two cigars in separate tubes. Daniel opened both of them and offered one to the General.

His curiosity piqued, General Mallory took the offered cigar, and was very surprised to find that it was an Opus opus X! Made by the same family that hand rolled the cigars that he'd offered to the men seated around the table, General Mallory knew that these particular cigars were very exclusive and hard to get a hold of anywhere west of the Mississippi river. The General's opinion of Daniel rose quite a few notches when he realized that the obnoxiously irritating civilian wasn't going to gloat after obtaining his underhanded victory.

Daniel knew that he'd aimed below the belt, and had hit like a fifty megaton nuke, when he'd pulled out that infamous monstrosity and threatened to light it. Daniel was deranged. He'd be the first to admit that, but just because he was certifiably insane didn't mean that he was stupid. Far from it; Daniel knew that there were times when one could gloat and rub it in your opponents face, but then there were times when, after beating someone so badly that they caved completely, you had to give them back a measure of their self-respect and dignity. Daniel knew that he was going to be dealing with the hard nosed General for the entirety of the foreseeable future, which meant that he needed to establish exactly where he stood in things. He figured that he'd made an excellent start with his smokes, but decided not to press his luck too hard until he knew a bit more about how this man saw things.

"Ok, Gentlemen. Who wants to be the one to tell me why the foremost airbase in the continental US is being commandeered for use as an alien LZ?" The General asked politely, but in a tone that definitely wouldn't take no for an answer.

Capt. Lennox and Sgt. Epps looked at each other for a split second before turning to Daniel.

"Looks like you're nominated Junkman!" Sgt. Epps piped up with a grin that said payback was hell.

Nonplussed, the salvage operator merely shrugged, since he'd planned on speaking up anyway. Then he looked the waiting General straight in the eyes and started.

"We have a ship full of official, if unannounced allies about to land in about 65 hours give or take. We know that their com system is shot, and given the size of the ship in question, that also means that there are likely to be some casualties, cuz this thing is HUGE! We've been told that it's even bigger than a damned super tanker. We need some place to park that thing away from snooping eyes, AND we need a repair bay because not only are these guys robots, but they're big!" Daniel said after pausing for a second to gather his thoughts.

"Just how big are we talking here?" Gen. Mallory asked.

"Sir, I suggest that you might want to see that for yourself." Col. Anderson spoke up.

"And just how do you suggest I go about doing that Colonel?" Gen. Mallory shot back.

"Come on back to the hangar!" Daniel piped in grinning as he stood up.

General Mallory quickly led the way back to the hangar where the vehicles were still parked. As soon as he entered the hangar, Daniel went over and snatched up his crowbars.

"YO! Rustbucket! You ready to get a crowbar shoved up your tailpipe?" Daniel bellowed with a grin.

Barricade didn't hesitate; he transformed fast and struck a combat ready stance.

"**As long as you're ready to get stepped on and squished like the little stain you are, runt!" **The Decepticon shot back also grinning.

Instantly the trio of Autobots also transformed ready to break up the fight that they were certain was about to ensue.

"Awww man, not again!" Sgt. Epps complained loudly. "Can you two just cool it and get along for a FEW hours?"

This exasperated comment brought a hard look from General Mallory.

"Are you saying death threats are standard behavior with these two?" General Mallory asked Sgt. Epps.

"Yes Sir. Well, they are with him anyway." Sgt. Epps replied gesturing at Daniel.

"I can understand assigning military personnel to work with individuals like this, but what I do NOT understand, is why you are even involved. Now, would you care to enlighten me as to the reason behind your involvement?" General Mallory asked as he returned his attention back to the salvage operator.

"That's actually the easy part to explain. Since I've proven that I can fix these guys, I've been assigned to do just that, and I think I do a pretty damn good job of it too." Daniel answered with a grin.

"**Yo! You can say that again little man!" **Jazz piped in giving the junkyard owner a thumbs up.

"You know how to work with alien robotic technology?" General Mallory asked doubtfully.

"**Yes, he does." **Both Jazz and Barricade answered instantly, while Ironhide and Bumblebee were both nodding their heads.

"Well that seems to be a resounding and unanimous answer. Colonel, if you would kindly take these men back to my briefing room and provide them with whatever refreshments they'd like, I would greatly appreciate it. In the meantime, I need you and uh . . . these uh . . . individuals to come with me." General Mallory stated with the last directed at Daniel and the mechs.

"Believe it or not, they actually have genders, and these are males or the equivalent. So most of the same terms can still apply. Now, that gray one there is Jazz. The yellow and black one is Bumblebee. The black and white scrap heap is called Barricade. (The Former Decepticon growled warningly at this.) And finally, you got the big black guy named Ironhide." Daniel told the somewhat disconcerted General

The General nodded his greeting to each mech in turn, but didn't reply.

Ironhide grunted in amazement that Daniel hadn't actually introduced him as 'Tackleberry'.

Daniel had to hand it to the man. Not many people could learn about aliens and then actually meet those aliens a few minutes later and still keep their dignified composure, that the General had done just that, impressed the salvage operator.

General Mallory led Daniel and the four mechs over to a large lift at the far end of the hangar. Then he motioned them all onto the platform and set the safety gates before setting the platform to descend.

General Mallory looked over at Daniel speculatively.

"I don't suppose that you're one of the few people in the US who's NOT familiar with the rumors of the Roswell incident are you?" He finally asked.

"Ha! If you're talkin about that supposed ship full of little green men, I don't think that any civilization with the technology to successfully navigate interstellar distances without hitting some chunk of drifting rock is going to hit something as big and obvious as a damned mountain in the middle of a desert!" Daniel replied without hesitation.

Both Jazz and Bumblebee snickered at that comment.

General Mallory gave Daniel another hard look as he revised his opinion of the salvage operator.

"Well put. And you've got a point. They didn't hit a mountain, well not first anyway. Looking at our new friends here, I think that ship full of little green men as you put it, might have hit one of them." The General stated bluntly with a gesture towards the four mechs.

Needless to say that got everyone's attention fast.

"Just how bad is it messed up?" Daniel demanded before any of the mechs could respond.

"To be honest, there hasn't been any sign of function in the 62 years that we've had it in storage. Mostly we've been concentrating on reverse engineering the wrecked ship. I will say that the robot, mech, or whatever it is, has a design that is similar to your friends here, but it's also radically different as well." General Mallory answered.

"**That ain't sayin a whole lot. It could just be a different type of bot. We do come in all kinds ya know. There's even some of us that can join up and combine to form one great big huge bot that can kick some major aft! So why don't ya give us a few more details so we can figure out what we might be dealing with?" **Jazz put in informatively.

"What do you mean by different types?" General Mallory asked in confusion.

"Well, right here we got a large truck, a Camero, a Saleen Mustang, and a Pontiac. I have seen a rescue modified Hummer and a Peterbuilt complete with a sleeper. I've also seen one damned big ass jet that made an X-wing fighter look outdated and over rated." Daniel explained quickly.

General Mallory nodded thoughtfully as the lift continued to descend deep into the ground beneath the desert. Fifteen minutes later, the unlikely group was being led through passages that were more than large enough to accommodate Optimus Prime without difficulty or inconvenience to the large mech. The Base commander paused in front of a pair of large doors powered by hydraulics.

"Now I realize that you're not military, so you're not in my chain of command. However what is in this room is classified. The ONLY reason I'm even considering giving you access to it is because these robots here have vouched that you know how to work on them. Now before I open these doors, I want to know for a fact that you know what you're doing." General Mallory stated bluntly.

"**Hey, he was able to fix me up when our own medic would have sworn it was impossible. He knows what he's doin, and whoever it is can't be much worse off than I was."** Jazz spoke up in Daniel's behalf.

"**I must admit that his skill at repairs have saved my life as well." **Barricade added quietly.

"That's all I needed to hear." General Mallory said as he used his military ID badge to open the security doors.

The room was huge and had all kind of odds and ends, but what drew everyone's attention was the bot lying on the floor at the far end of the room. On its back and lying prone, it appeared to be a fair bit taller then Ironhide, almost as tall as Optimus. As the group approached the bot, Daniel was already checking it out to see just much damage had been done to it.

"**No. Oh Primus no!"** Ironhide said softly as he suddenly rushed forward.

"You know who it is?" Daniel asked when he caught up with the mech.

"**It. It's my sister."** Ironhide said in a forlorn tone as an expression of utter despair tore at his features.

The other three mechs had all frozen while staring at the downed fem. General Mallory closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.

"For what little it's worth, I'm sorry. It. SHE was brought here, and hasn't been moved or messed with since the collision that brought her down. The reason we haven't done anything to her is because even at this time, we still don't have anywhere near the computer technology to conduct repairs. At least as far as we know." General Mallory told the grieving mech.

Ironhide turned to look at his comrades. Jazz's expression was one of sympathy, and while the yellow scout didn't have very mobile features, his sympathy could clearly be seen shining in those blue optics. Most surprising of all to the black mech was that Barricade also had a torn look in his optics, as several emotions fought for dominance.

The large black weapons specialist looked very small and humble as he knelt down to look at Daniel.

"**Please, I. I know that we've had some differences, but she's never done anything to you. You pulled off a miracle when you saved Jazz, and you did it again by saving Barricade. Please, just be able do it one more time, please that's all I ask. She's my sister."** Ironhide asked in a near pleading tone.

Like many soldiers, the Autobot weapon specialist was able to look his own death straight in the face without flinching, but when it came to watching a loved one fight for their life, it was nearly too much for them to handle.

As Both Daniel and General Mallory looked up at the face of the black mech, both men would have sworn that they could see hints of tears in the glowing optics of the giant robot.

Daniel's mind raced as he tried to think of something, anything that he could say to give the alien robot some kind of hope that his sister might be able to pull through. Finally Daniel took a deep breath and stepped forward to lay a heavily callused had on the mechs arm.

"I ain't gonna make any guarantees, but I promise to give her everything I possibly can. Let me take a look at her and see just how bad it is, then, I might be able to tell you more." Daniel said quietly.

"We've got every kind of tool and piece of fabrication equipment available right here on the base. If you need it we got it. You just say the word. In the mean time, where do you want her moved so you can work on her?" General Mallory spoke up trying to help.

"I don't want her moved at all. They've got all kinds of electric servo motors that can send out a power surge if a limb is forcibly moved. I don't wanna take a chance on frying any damaged circuits with the shape she's in." Daniel said as he began to look over the damaged femme.

General Mallory nodded his head in understanding. "In that case I'll get some men down here to start clearing this other stuff out of here."

"Better yet let these four do it. I don't want any distractions that I don't need, and these guys are a hell of a lot stronger than they look." Daniel replied.

Looking over the twisted and mangled limbs, Daniel could see that whatever had hit her, had hit HARD! The armor was torn completely off on most of the torso, and what was left of the torso was bent inwards. The abdominal armor was missing completely, and there was a very large disturbing dent in the center of the forehead.

Daniel leaned down to peer up into the chest cavity through the shredded abdominal section. From this vantage Daniel could see the femme's spark. The glow from it was extremely weak and not entirely the right color. Then the glow brightened almost imperceptibly as the spark pulsed weakly.

Daniel turned around to look at Ironhide, who was busy helping to clear out the room.

"Yo. Tackleberry. Come here a minute." Daniel called out to the black mech.

Ironhide set whatever he was carrying down, and rushed over, a mixed expression of hope and dread filling his features.

"She's alive. Barely, but she's hanging in there. So don't give up on her yet, okay?" Daniel told him straight out.

Ironhide shuttered his optics and nodded in relief, too full of mixed emotions to speak at that moment.

"Let me know what you need, and I'll have it brought down. Just say the word." General Mallory spoke up.

"Let's start by raiding the motor pool for every size of vacuum hose and rubber tubing you've got. I'm also gonna need some sterile one gallon containers and a few dozen IV pumps from your infirmary, if you got one. Channel lock pliers, vise grips, hacksaw, hose clamps, crowbars, sledge hammers, bolt cutters, chop saw, and grinders for now. I can worry about welding her back together later, right now; I want to concentrate on getting some power and fuel to her systems." Daniel stated.

General Mallory walked over to an intercom and gave some quiet orders to make sure that the materials that Daniel had asked for would be gathered up and delivered quickly.

Daniel wasn't even thinking as he reached into his jacket and got out his smokes and lit one. Still walking around the downed femme, Daniel was checking her out to make certain that there was no energon leakage.

General Mallory watched the four mechs closely as they made short work of clearing stuff out of the oversized storage room. He'd noticed it when the salvage operator had lit up a smoke. But then, it was obvious to the watching officer that Daniel wasn't as nonchalant as he appeared. The General couldn't blame the man. After all, he was about to play surgeon on an alien robot built from technology that was who knew how many centuries ahead of anything earth had to offer, and with the very life of that robot on the line; General Mallory knew that anyone would be nervous.

The salvage operator had just finished his smoke when Capt. Lennox and his men entered bringing in roller carts loaded with the supplies that Daniel needed. Daniel looked over at General Mallory curiously.

"Any reason why you had them play packhorse?" Daniel asked.

"Two reasons actually. One, they already know about our new friends here, so they won't be busy rubber necking instead of getting things done. Two; they obviously have the security clearance to know about our new friends." General Mallory answered with a grin.

There was no way that Daniel could argue with that, so he let it drop. Then he looked over at Jazz, who was waiting to see if there was anything he could do to help. If fact ALL of the mechs were waiting for the same reason. Various levels of concern written on each metallic face. Understandably, Ironhide was obviously grief stricken. Barricade on the other hand looked much the same way, although no one was about to question the Decepticon about it.

"Jazz get on the radio and tell Ratchet to get his bolts in gear and get over here, cuz I'm gonna need some help with her soon." Daniel instructed.

"**Don't bother, Jazz. I already asked him. He said he can't leave Figueroa without taking a chance of killing him right now."** Ironhide interrupted sadly.

"Okay, Buzz Boy, Ironhide. Since there's not a lot that you two can do to help me here, I'm gonna need you two to do something else for me." Daniel said as he scratched his head almost franticly in an attempt to get his mind working in a higher gear.

At this comment, the black mech looked about ready to break.

"**I can't. I can't leave her!"** Ironhide protested.

"Yeah? Well ya got a choice. You can either be the one to drive like hell to go get her a fresh supply of energon, or you can wait another fifteen to eighteen hours while it gets trucked in by some of our vehicles! Now I need to know if you can snag the engine that Ratchet's using over that radio of yours." Daniel shot back.

"**What does Ratchet's engine have to do with anything?"** Ironhide asked confused.

"That's right you weren't there." Daniel said as he snapped his fingers in realization. "We got everybody but you a faster engine, so if you can get the specs on his, then you can get to Hoover Dam and back in about seven hours or less. Bringing me the energon that she needs. Take one of Capt. Lennox's men with you and someone from this base as well. That way you won't have any problems getting through either gate." Daniel told the distraught weapons specialist.

Then Daniel turned his attention to Bumblebee. To his credit, the yellow scout had brightened up tremendously at the prospect of being able to help in some way.

"Buzz Boy, I'm gonna need you to bring back Maigan and Mikeala. Be sure to tell them what the problem is, so they can dress appropriately. I don't need a murder charge cuz of some soldier trying to grab a looksee, but those two are damned good at what they do, and I'm gonna need their help if this gal's got any circuitry damage." Daniel instructed the scout.

"Any of my men do any gawking, and they'll be spending a lot of time scrubbing toilettes! They know better than that, and they know I expect better than that. As far as someone to ride with those two to make sure that they get back in here with no problems. I'll do that myself, since I'm off duty anyway, there can't be any dereliction charges. Col. Anderson will be on hand to make sure that anything else you need will be obtained." General Mallory said in a matter of fact tone.

"Thanks. Is he gonna be nearby in case I need to ask for something?" Daniel asked as he began rifling through the materials that had been brought in.

"I'm gonna be standing right over here out of the way, and right next to this intercom, so I can get someone to bring what you need." Col. Anderson said from the oversized doorway.

Daniel merely nodded his head as he began setting out a dozen one gallon jars, a roll of 1/4 inch rubber hose, vice grip pliers, and the bolt cutters. Looking over everything that had been brought in Daniel spotted a few things that he hadn't asked for. A pile of couplings for each size of hose that had been brought, a box of surgical gloves, a case of electrical tape, and two rolls of military duct tape.

Daniel looked at the surgical gloves for a minute. He knew that many mechanics used them to keep grime off their hands so that they could present a neat appearance to their customers, but he had no qualms about getting his hands dirty so he'd never bothered with them. Then Daniel got an idea.

Pulling out his pocket knife, Daniel grabbed a glove out of the already open box and cut the tip of the middle finger off of it. Then, Daniel grabbed a roll of electrical tape out of the case and cut a six foot length of 1/4 inch hose. Sticking one end of the hose into the middle finger of the glove, Daniel taped it up stretching the tape as he did, to form a good solid seal. Placing the wrist section of the glove on the neck of a one gallon jar, Daniel taped that up in the same manner.

"Barricade. Come on over here and have a seat." Daniel told the former Decepticon.

"**What do you plan on doing?" **Barricade demanded instantly.

"I'm gonna use you and Jazz as energon donors to keep her alive until I can get some skilled help in here." Daniel told him in reply.

"**Why can't you use me for that? She's MY sister! If anyone should be able to give their own energon to save her it should be me!" **Ironhide retorted angrily.

"Two problems with that! One, you don't have a bleeder valve installed. Two, none of these others can haul four fifty-five gallon barrels of energon! The faster you get to Hoover Dam and back, the faster she'll be up and running. Now MOVE soldier!" Daniel finished in a roar that would have done any drill sergeant proud.

The weapon specialist was grumbling as he and the yellow scout left the room, but he didn't argue with the salvage operator any further. Ironhide knew that the man had made sense, even if he didn't want to admit it.

Barricade had sat down next to the wall near the downed femme, causing Jazz to look at him curiously. There was something in the black and white mech's optics whenever he looked at the damaged femme that forestalled any comments.

Instead of saying anything, Daniel began climbing over the former Decepticon unplugging the mech's limbs.

"**What are you doing that for?"** Barricade demanded.

"I know for a fact that you lost over nine gallons of energon when Jackass pounded the hell out of you. I think the only reason you survived that much energon loss was because you didn't have power to your limbs. So I'm disconnecting 'em so I can drain about seven gallons of energon from you.

Seeing that Ironhide had finally listened to reason and left with Capt. Lennox, Gen. Mallory and Bumblebee; Jazz had turned his attention back to what Daniel was doing. He honestly expected Barricade to put up a fight, or at least an argument about loosing that much energon. Jazz was surprised by the mech's actions, but then he knew that the melee specialist had always had a strange sense of honor, and had even been known to kill a fellow Decepticon or two for even asking him to violate that honor.

"**I have some training in field repairs, but I'm nowhere near good enough to deal with the kind of damage she has."** The saboteur told Daniel.

Daniel's head snapped around to lock his gaze on the silver mech.

"So you can tell me what the vital components are, and identify which ones are damaged? Is that what you're sayin?" Daniel demanded.

"**Sure, just about any bot can do that. That's basic anatomy. I'm sayin I know how to fix a busted energon line, and do basic repairs on a limb or even a few internal circuits to get a bot moving again, or keep 'em alive till they can get to a real medic." **Jazz answered.

Daniel let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding.

"Okay. Good. Get over here, and let's figure out just what vital parts are damaged. We can concentrate on those, get her up and running. Then we can work on the structural damage, busted joints and shredded armor." Daniel said in relief.

Jazz walked over and began the most thorough scan he'd ever conducted in his life. He could clearly see that most of the damage was in fact structural in nature, and that few of the internal components were damaged.

While Jazz was doing that, Daniel had opened a valve in one of Barricade's energon lines and was filling a jar from it. When that was set up, Daniel was able to turn his attention back to the saboteur.

"Well, just how bad is she?" Daniel asked cutting right to the point.

"**It's bad. REAL bad! You couldn't think of a better way to kill a bot slowly. One of the wires to her regeneration system has been severed, her fuel conversion unit is crushed beyond use, and her energon processing unit is also crushed. Part of her torso armor was crushed inward and knocked her into stasis lock. Other than that, it's all structure damage. But she can't process any fuel that we put in her tanks, and she can't regulate how much energon gets into her system lines." **Jazz said as he relayed the results of his scan and pointed out the damaged components.

"So if we filled her fuel tank with energon it wouldn't do any good. BUT, if we were to introduce small amounts of energon straight into her energon lines?" Daniel asked.

"**That will help, but you'll have to do it slowly so you don't cause a power surge and blow out other systems." **Barricade put in.

"**So you know a bit about field repairs too?" **Jazz asked the black and white mech.

"**No. I'm only familiar with some of the THEORY behind it. There's a world of difference there. For example. In theory it's possible to attach one of Prime's arms on a bot your size."** Barricade explained.

"But in PRACTICE? Yeah, you're gonna need to beef up the struts, bracing and the hydraulics, and that's not even touching the problems it would cause with balance, You'd have to install one hell of a gyroscopic unit to keep him on his feet, either that or he'd have to use that arm as a crutch." Daniel burst in.

Both mechs had to chuckle at the image that suggestion sent through their processors, but neither of them had their spark in it.

Finally, Jazz could stand it no more. He had to know why a mech as notoriously selfish and outright hateful as Barricade was willing to help get this fem fixed up.

"**Can I ask why you're willin ta help save her life?"** Jazz asked.

Barricade narrowed his optics at the saboteur, wondering just what the mech might know, and how he might have found out. Then he noticed Daniel watching as both the human and the Autobot waited for the answer. Barricade avoided looking at the downed femme; instead he looked over at Daniel before turning his attention back to Jazz.

"**On two separate occasions that human has saved my life. I owe him something that I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay."** Barricade said quietly.

Knowing just how he thought the former Decepticon felt, Jazz nodded in understanding. The human was strange, there was no doubt about that, but there was no denying that he was good at what he did. Jazz wasn't sure just how he could repay the strange little human for saving his life, and although he'd agreed to watch over the man's niece, Jazz felt that it wasn't enough.

_**Slag me for scrap! If I feel like this, even after he gave me a way to repay him, how does Barricade feel, when he owes the man his life twice over, and just how the pit do you repay something like THAT?**_ Jazz thought.

Daniel hadn't stopped what he was doing to listen to the conversation. He was busy setting up four of the IV pumps. As soon as the one gallon jar was full of energon, Daniel shut off the valve and disconnected the hose. Then he grabbed another surgical glove, cut the tips off all the fingers including the thumb, and began using it to replace the one that had been used to fill the jar. Then Daniel cut five more lengths of ¼ inch hose and taped them into the fingers the same way he had when filling the jar.

Instead of trying to find a way to plug the ¼ inch hose into the IV pumps, Daniel cut the lines from the IV bags and wedged them into the open ends of the hoses. The fifth hose he taped to the side of the jar as an air intake valve. Then Daniel grabbed the roll of military duct tape and taped the jar to one of the IV stands.

With the IV pumps and energon ready to go, Daniel went over to the damaged femme with a load of tools, and a short length of ½ inch hose. He kinked off the return energon line to the spark, cut it with the bolt cutters, and quickly spliced in the ½ inch hose. Then he unkinked the energon line. Daniel went and rolled the IV pumps over, and connected the needles, then, he stuck all four needles into the ½ inch hose that he'd spliced into the energon line that went straight to the femme's spark.

"Here's hoping she's still got some fight left in her!" Daniel said as he started up one of the IV pumps.

Daniel leaned down to watch the femme's spark closely. He had no clue that both mechs were scanning the femme at the highest resolution they were capable of. The glow of the spark brightened noticeably as soon as the fresh energon reached it. Daniel let out a sigh of relief, and he could have sworn that he'd heard both mechs do the same.

"Okay! So far, so good. Now let's see if we can turn up the flow." Daniel said to himself as he began increasing the flow rate on the first IV pump.

"Jazz, how's she holding up?" Daniel asked with obvious concern in his tone.

"**Hah! She's doin just fine man! I wouldn't have thought of doin it that way, but it's workin great! With fresh power she'll be able to last until Ratchet can get here."** Jazz replied happily.

"Hate to break it to you, but I don't plan on letting her lay here that long." Daniel said as he started up the other three IV pumps. Then he set all four pumps to their highest flow rate. At that setting, Daniel knew that it would be at least a half an hour before he could hook up a second jar.

"Okay, now let's start getting the rest of these jars filled up. That'll take a good thirty minutes to get pumped into her, so that gives me time to gather the rest of what she needs for now." The salvage operator informed them.

Forty-five minutes later, Daniel had placed both Jazz and Barricade into stasis lock and obtained all of the energon he needed. He now had twelve IV pumps pouring a total of nine gallons of energon into the damaged femme's lines. He knew that there were only a few things left to do.

"Col. I'm pretty much at a stand still here until they get back, so if you want to lock the door and take a break and deal with whatever it is that you normally do, then you go right ahead." Daniel told the OOD.

Colonel Anderson looked around at the storage room that was empty with the exception of three mechs, the salvage operator, and the equipment that he was using to work on them. He decided that there wasn't any trouble the man could get into if he was locked in, so the OOD took him up on his offer so he could grab a quick lunch at the mess hall.

Daniel had sat down against a wall and lit a smoke. But no sooner had the Colonel locked the doors to the storage room, than Daniel was on his feet stomping out his smoke and rushing over to the damaged femme.

Daniel planned to work fast. He knew that he had about an hour or less to do what he needed to do. He shut down the femme's pain receptors and then grabbed the bolt cutters and a crowbar. It took him a good twenty minutes to cut and pry the torso armor far enough away from the femme's neck juncture so that he could bring her out of stasis lock. Then Daniel got down on his belly on top of the femme and reached in to see if he could reconnect the severed wire to her regeneration unit.

Daniel could see both ends of the severed wire, but he couldn't splice it without dismantling half the torso first. Daniel decided to grab both ends and see if he could hold them in contact long enough for them to do some good.

The salvage operator would have sworn that he'd just grabbed the number one plug wire to a V-8! Agonizing jolts of electricity ran up his arm and into his shoulder. But the second that he'd grabbed the ends of that wire, the femme's spark brightened up so much that he decided to hold on.

Daniel couldn't have said how long he'd been holding onto that wire that was pounding the hell out of him. All he knew was that his left arm had long since gone numb. Then he got another shock, but it wasn't electrical.

"**What. You. Doing?"**

The salvage operator glanced up at the femme's face and saw that she was online and looking at him with somewhat dim optics.

"You speak English?" Daniel asked surprised.

"**Some. Little. Learn from radio."** She replied.

"I'm trying to do repairs. Try to get your fuel systems fixed." Daniel told her tiredly.

"**Not able. Must replace." ** She answered.

"I know I'm gonna regret this." Daniel muttered to himself. Then he spoke to Starglide. "Then concentrate on fixing your repair system." Daniel told her as he gritted his teeth in anticipation of an even stronger jolt.

Daniel watched as the fem shuttered her optics, but the expected jolt never came.

When the optics opened back up they were just a shade brighter.

"**Who you?" **She asked.

Daniel couldn't help but notice the note of concern in her voice. He knew he'd be concerned too if he'd waken up to find some strange alien with their arm shoved into his guts.

"My name's Daniel. I'm a friend of Ironhide." He told her after thinking fast.

The look of relief on the femme's face told Daniel that he'd said exactly the right thing at the right time.

"**I name Star. Starglide."** She answered trying to smile.

"Okay, you can't work on the fuel systems, so why don't you try to recharge, I think that's what Ratchet called it, and conserve your power. I'll hang onto this blasted wire for as long as I can. In the meantime, I got more help on the way, so you just relax and hang in there. As for what happened, all I know is that you hit something, or it hit you. You been lying in a storage room for a long time. I shut off your pain receptors and almost all your joints are shot, so don't try to move." Daniel told her trying to fill her in on things, even if he wasn't sure if she could understand him very well.

There was a sound which was suspiciously like a sigh of relief as the femme's optics shuttered again.

Then next thing Daniel knew, he was being forcibly jerked around.

"**What the fragging pit are you doing to her?"** Ironhide bellowed in rage when he finally got the human's attention.

"I was using my hand as a connection to get her regeneration system going." Daniel told the mech as he examined his left arm which was an angry red and completely numb.

Instead of waiting for the weapons specialist to respond, Daniel went over to Barricade and reconnected his limbs and brought him out of stasis lock, before doing the same to Jazz.

Ironhide knew that there was something wrong with Daniel's arm. The red color wasn't supposed to be there, and the arm was hanging limply at the human's side.

"**I. When I asked you to help her, I didn't mean for you to risk getting yourself killed."** The black mech finally replied in a flat tone. Then he asked the question that was nearly burning his processors.

"**Is she going to be alright?"** Ironhide asked nearly praying to Primus that the human had been able to pull off one more miracle.

"**Yeah, I'd like ta know the answer to that too!" **Jazz said as he got up.

Daniel didn't answer either mech. Instead, he went over to Starglide and rapped lightly on her forehead with his right hand.

"Hey Lady! Ya got some visitors!" Daniel said when she unshuttered her optics.

Four mechs and nearly two dozen humans were instantly by the femme's side.

Starglide looked up at Ironhide and emitted a burst of Cybertronian. The black mech answered in the same language.

Daniel felt his skin crawl at the sound of their language.

"Ok y'all gotta stop that! It sounds like you're dragging a hacksaw blade across a chalkboard while tryin ta harmonize with a cat fight." Daniel complained.

"Oh, you just HAD to say something like that didn't you?" Sgt. Epps griped, shuddering as he felt his own skin crawl.

Starglide whose attention had been focused only on her brother to this point looked around. Her optics widened in surprise when she spotted Barricade.

Suddenly there was the sound of whining hydraulics, straining motors, and grinding metal as Starglide whipped out a very large weapon and pointed it straight at Barricade's face.

"**Ca. Can you give me one decent reason as to why I should not offline you right now, Decepticon?" **She asked with that final word dripping with more scorn than anyone should have been able to pour into a single word.

Barricade didn't flinch, nor did he move. The mech's optics were looking straight into the optics of the femme.

"**I was on my way home, and I was even early for once. I saw the shattered and smoking remains of my home, and I saw this one particular Autobot dragging away the bodies of my creators. I thought he was the one who had killed them, and I joined the opposing faction so that I might avenge the deaths of my creators."** Barricade said simply never taking his optics away from hers.

"**Do you honestly expect me to believe that you thought my own BROTHER had killed me?"** Starglide demanded angrily.

"Wait a minute! YOU'RE Cavalcade?!" Maigan burst out.

Instantly all optics and eyes locked onto the female teen.

"**Where did you hear that name?"** Barricade demanded.

"Ironhide told me and Daniel about you. He thought you were killed when Shockwave and Thunder something or other destroyed your home." Maigan answered.

Barricade turned to look at both Ironhide and his sister for confirmation of the human's words.

Suddenly all three bots were carrying on an in depth conversation in Cybertronian. Daniel decided that it might be best to let them work things out on their own, but there was one thing he was going to insist on.

Daniel eased his way past Ironhide and put his hand on Starglide's arm that was still pointing her sniper cannon in Barricade's face. The arm began to lower accompanied by the whine of several servo motors.

"**What are you doing?" **Starglide asked the human.

"Putting your arm down. For one thing, you don't need the stress on your support structure, and for another, you don't really have the spare power to fire that thing off anyway. And third, if anybody's gonna send that heap of scrap back to my junkyard, it's gonna be me." Daniel quipped.

"**My creation is NOT a heap of scrap!" **Starglide protested weakly.

"He was when I found him! He was in worse shape than you are as a matter of fact." Daniel quipped as he prepared to splice into one of the energon lines in her arm.

Quickly repeating the process he'd done earlier, the salvage operator made short work of installing a short length of hose complete with a T coupling in it and another short length of hose that was kinked off to allow it to be used as a bleeder valve. He was working with one arm and hand completely numb, but with the back injury that he'd lived with, he was used to that happening, so he knew how to watch what he was doing.

"**Even if he was damaged when you found him, that still does not entitle you to call him a heap of scrap."** Starglide said as she looked over at her creation.

"**Hah! Don't let it bother you. The rotted out little wad of flesh is glitched in his processors, IF he even has any processing abilities." **Barricade told her with a grin that clearly showed the deadly dagger like teeth that filled his mouth.

Starglide wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she kept silent. But she made sure to keep an optic on the two.

Daniel had grabbed an empty jar and was now filling it with energon that he was draining from Starglide.

"**Why are you draining her energon? She doesn't have enough power as it is, and you're taking her energon!" **Ironhide demanded in a rage.

Daniel started to make one of his typical smart assed comments, but for some strange reason thought better of it.

"She can only hold so much in those lines of hers, and I do NOT want to take a chance on rupturing one, because of over pressure." Daniel told the irate mech.

"**Primus! That energon is nearly completely depleted! How did ya manage ta get her online like that?"** Jazz asked as he looked at what was being drained.

"It took a while to take effect, but all of the fresh stuff is going straight to her spark and other vital systems. I wanted to get her online as soon as possible, so we could find out what else might be wrong with her." Daniel answered.

Daniel then used a dolly to roll a barrel of energon closer to the damaged femme. Then he stopped the IV pumps and disconnected the hoses from the nearly empty jars of energon and fed them into one of the full barrel of fresh energon that Ironhide had brought in. That taken care of Daniel restarted the IV pumps and stepped back.

"I don't suppose anyone brought my ice chest down did they?" Daniel asked dubiously as he looked around.

It was Mikeala who pointed out where Maigan had put it down. With a nod of thanks, Daniel went over, opened it up, and grabbed a Java Russian.

Daniel had just finished a long draught of his energy drink when someone cleared their throat behind him to get his attention. Daniel turned around to face General Mallory.

"She seems to be working, so now what do you need to do in order to get her fully repaired?" The General asked him.

"Well, we still gotta get Ratchet down here, because she's gonna need a few systems replaced, and a lot of parts are probably gonna have to be either melted down and reforged, or reformed one way or another. So we're gonna need to bring in some spare parts. In the mean time, I suppose that thirty gallons of WD-40 might do her some good, along with a few tubes from a grease gun. But trying to fix that busted armor and torso of hers is gonna be the fun part." Daniel answered.

"**What is this WD-40 that you plan to use on my sister?" **Ironhide demanded.

Daniel sighed in exasperation. "WD-40 stands for Water Displacement formula 40. It was developed by DOW chemicals specifically for use by the military to loosen rusted parts, prevent corrosion, and it's a penetrating lubricant for frozen hinges or joints. It's all natural and it's made of fish oil." Daniel answered.

"**There is no WAY I'm letting you use that slagging stuff on my sister!" **Ironhide said in disgust.

"What? You'd prefer that I use a petroleum product made from the remains of dinosaurs that died and rotted out over sixty-five million years ago, and still won't be half as effective as fresh fish oil? What do you think I put in your tanks the other day? We need to get her fixed up and that's the best stuff for the job. Now we are going to get started on her armor and get her rebuilt." Daniel shot back.

"And YOU aren't going to be doing any of that! You saved her life and got her working again, Great. Pat yourself on the back, and go away. All she needs now, is some TLC, which is something you don't know anything about, so me and Mikeala are going to work on her from here on out, so you won't be calling her a scrap heap or something similar." Maigan ordered.

"**He'd better not call my creator by any such names!"** Barricade ground out angrily as his objection was seconded by Ironhide.

Daniel turned to face the black and white mech with an irritated expression written all over his face.

"First of all. You ARE a pile of scrap! You were scrap when I found you, and you're scrap now. We even rebuilt you out of scrap. Scrap plus scrap; equals SCRAP! Always has, always will. Nothin you can do about it." Daniel told him with an evil grin. "Now you're mother, on the other hand, is what you might call a CLASSIC design! This means that while she might get old, she might get beat up and banged up, she will ALWAYS be a classic, which means that she'll always be a RESTORE project. Unlike you." Daniel finished with an even wider grin.

Barricade growled deeply in angry frustration. The former Decepticon wasn't sure whether to step on the human for insulting him, or thank him for complementing his creator in such a way.

Ironhide and several humans were laughing at that one, while Daniel had turned his attention back to Starglide, who was glaring at him.

"**I do not appreciate the manner in which you are treating my creation, even if he is a Decepticon!" **Starglide told him angrily.

"Would you prefer that I hit him in the head with a crow bar?" Daniel quipped back.

"**Try it! I DARE you!"** Barricade snarled before Starglide could respond.

Daniel shrugged and walked over to a roller cart and snatched up a two foot crow bar, before walking back to Barricade who had bent down and lowered his head.

_**CLANG!**_

The sound of the crowbar hitting the mech on the top of his head echoed through the entire room. It was quickly followed by the sound of that same crow bar hitting the floor.

To the complete amazement of everyone watching, both the human and the mech were instantly on their knees rubbing frantically at their heads. Daniel was seeing more stars than he would have believed possible, while Barricade was seeing much the same thing. Starglide could only stare in horrified shock as she watched what was happening

"Son of a BITCH!! That fuggin hurt!" Daniel exclaimed while still trying to rub the pain away.

"**What the frag did you dare him for? Haven't you realized how glitched he is yet?"** Ironhide demanded sarcastically while trying not to laugh.

"**I didn't think the little slagger would actually do it! Not THAT hard anyway." **Barricade lamented rubbing at his aching cranial plates while staring at the now slightly bent crow bar.

"Holy shit. It feels like I'm the one that got conked in the head with that thing!" Daniel complained.

"Yeah, now ya know how I felt the other day!" Sgt. Epps piped up, unable to resist the shot.

"**That's the one major drawback of any type of spark bond. What one feels, so does the other. So don't you ever forget that, you little slime puddle." **Barricade stated with relish.

"Oh, don't you worry about that, you over grown clunker! I'm definitely gonna remember this, and payback's a BITCH!" Daniel shot back wincing as he still rubbed at his head.

"**How? How did you form a bond with a human? And WHY would you form a bond with a human?" **Starglide asked in shocked surprise.

"**Apparently it happened by accident while Daniel was in the process of trying to save Barricade's life. All I know is that when we found them, Barricade had been shot to pieces by Megatron, and Daniel was wedged into his spark chamber trying to splice some severed wiring." **Ironhide interrupted.

"**Are you a Decepticon still?"** Starglide asked Barricade.

"**No, you might say that my discharge was rather permanent and irrevocable." **Barricade said ruefully.

"**Then why are you still wearing the emblem of those that killed your mech creator?"** Starglide demanded angrily.

"**Because there was no way that I was going to join the Autobots without one slagging good reason, when I thought Ironhide was responsible for your deaths!"** Barricade replied even as the Decepticon emblem faded from sight on his door wings.

"Well now. Let me see if I got this straight. You two each thought that the other was dead, and scrap heap here blamed his own uncle for killing his you and his father. What a crazy, screwed up family I've gotten mixed up in." Daniel said with a shake of his head.

"Oh, like you're one to talk!" Maigan shot back instantly.

"Exactly! It looks like I'm right where I belong, don't it!" Daniel exclaimed with a huge grin.

Every human in the room who had dealt with the salvage operator for any length of time started laughing uproariously while several of the mechs joined in.

Daniel walked over and knelt down next to Starglide so that he could peer into her abdominal cavity to look at her spark. Seeing that it was now nearly the color and brightness that it was supposed to be, Daniel knew that they could start on the rest of the repair process.

"Kiddo, Mikeala. Let's see if we can get these armor panels off of her so we can start rebuilding the rest of her." Daniel said as he got to his feet.

"**Once my armor panels are removed and my joints repaired, I can revert to my protoform if that will help any." **Starglide suggested trying to help.

"What's a protoform?" Daniel asked a little puzzled.

"**Our protoform is our basic chassis. Almost a bare frame with no extra parts on it. Limbs, torso, and head; that's it." **Ironhide answered.

Daniel looked down at Starglide, back at Ironhide, then back at Starglide again with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I hate to say it, but that might make things a lot easier. But uh. . . I'm kinda getting a nasty feeling about that suggestion!" Daniel said after thinking it over.

"**And just what feeling would that be?"** Barricade demanded not liking the tone in the human's voice.

"Well, I'm getting the impression that it'd be similar to strippin one of these girls down to their birthday suits right here in front of everybody!" Daniel explained.

"**That is exactly what it would be like, for her." ** Bumblebee put in.

"In that case. You four, OUT! NOW!" Daniel ordered without hesitating.

There were several loud protests from both Ironhide and Barricade, but Daniel wasn't having any of it. He found himself forcibly backed up by both of the two teen females that were in the room.

As the four mechs were leaving the room, Ironhide could help but voice one last appeal.

"**What if you run in to something that you can't handle?"** The weapons specialist demanded.

"Then I'll wait till Ratchet gets here and HE can deal with it!" Daniel retorted angrily.

"That goes for you guys too! Go on, out!" Daniel said pointing at the various soldiers. "If we need something, we'll come to the door to get it." He finished firmly.

"**I swear he's as bad as Ratchet! Are ALL medics like that?" **Ironhide grumbled as he left the room.

"Yeah, Buddy. Pretty much. Our doctors are like that too." Capt. Lennox answered with a chuckle.

"Just to let you know. The only reason I'm letting you throw me out of a part of my own base is because this is a medical situation." General Mallory said from the doorway.

"And that's the only reason I'm doing it." Daniel answered.

"**Why did you have to throw them out?"** Starglide asked when the doors had closed.

Daniel cocked his left eyebrow at the damaged femme as he looked her over.

"One, because you ALWAYS show a lady respect. Two, even as messed up as you are right now, you deserve to keep as much of your dignity as possible. And three, I ain't running no damned peep show! If they want ta see you buck nekkid, then they're gonna have to wait until you WANT them to see you buck nekkid!" Daniel answered bluntly.

Both Mikeala and Maigan snickered at that. Then the three of them got to work. Ratchet would have been impressed with both the efficiency and the teamwork that was used as the trio removed the various armor panels. While Mikeala didn't know much of anything about hydraulics, she DID know how certain things were built, and supposed to work. That gave her a distinct advantage over Maigan whose forte was electronics. On the other hand Maigan had made herself useful with precise use of the cutting torch. Her cuts were neat, and exactly where they were needed to get the job done. Both Daniel, and Mikeala could cut and weld, but Maigan's steady hand and experience at micro soldering made her an expert at it. Daniel was putting his strength to use with the crow bars, while Mikeala put the hand held chop saw to work.

An hour and a half later, the team was taking a short break before getting ready to start working on the joints. Mikeala had just come back in the door with a roller cart loaded with six one gallon jugs of WD-40, a pair of grease guns, several tubes of putty grease, diet soda, Red Bull energy drinks and a large plate of sandwiches.

The two girls wasted no time in helping themselves to a bite to eat. Daniel ignored his growling stomach, while he grabbed a jug of WD-40 and began pouring it on Starglide's joints. Daniel knew that he was probably being a little too liberal with the stuff, but then; he figured it was a case of too much still might not be enough. Once he had all her joints thoroughly drenched, he went over and grabbed a sandwich for himself.

The three humans were hungrily chowing down when they became aware of a strange sound coming from Starglide. All three of them turned to look over at her.

"Is there something wrong?" Mikeala asked apprehensively.

"**No, not at all. It's just that there is the most delightful smell coming from somewhere, and I can't seem to figure out what it is." **Starglide answered while sniffing the air vigorously.

Daniel walked over and held both a sandwich and the Red Bull close to her. "Is it one of these?" He asked her.

"**No. It's much stronger than that and more appealing as well." **She answered with a slight grimace.

With that answer, all three humans knew right away what the femme was referring to. Daniel scooped a bit of WD-40 up with the tip of his right index finger and held it close to the femme's face.

"**That's it! That's what I've been smelling. What is that wonderful smelling substance?"** Starglide asked happily.

"That would be WD-40; a mechanics best friend. It makes parts move like their supposed to, and it even helps keep your skin soft." Mikeala answered quickly.

"**Wait. THAT'S the lubricant that you used one me?!"** Starglide demanded in surprise.

"Uh yeah. Why, do you not want us to use it?" Maigan asked uncertainly.

"**Oh, no. Go right ahead. It's just that it smells like something one bot would use to attract another, for possible spark bonding." **Starglide answered readily but with slight embarrassment.

The two girls were instantly giggling and laughing as they thought of the implications of that one, while Daniel was shaking his head ruefully.

"What are the odds that a robot from another world would consider WD-40 to be some type of cologne." Daniel muttered in wonder.

Shortly after that the three humans were back working on Starglide. Each of them would switch off for an occasional break, either for the bathroom, or in the case of Daniel and Maigan a smoke break. The team worked steadily, but carefully; making excellent use of Starglide's diagnostic routines as they went.

They had completely lost all track of time while they were working. So it was with some surprise that they heard the whine of hydraulics as the doors to the room began to open. Daniel immediately snatched up a crow bar and began storming towards the door, ready to bust someone up, when Ratchet walked in.

"Oh! It's you. Come on in Bones!" Daniel said as he lowered the crow bar.

"**What were you planning on doing with that?" **Ratchet asked as he saw the ever present weapon of choice in the salvage operator's hand.

"It was gonna be used as a very convincing reason to stay out of here while the lady is indisposed, and not properly ready to receive company." Daniel replied with a grin and a nod in the direction of Starglide.

Ratchet couldn't help it. The medic burst out laughing when he heard that. Daniel was a human after his own spark. Protect the privacy of the patient; with force if needed.

Then Ratchet took his first look at his new patient, and his jaw dropped open. Starglide was sitting up in her protoform while the two girls were welding parts of her torso supports back into place.

"**Primus! You've just about got her repaired, and here I thought from the scan that Ironhide sent me, that I'd have a dead, or nearly dead bot on my hands when I got here." **Ratchet exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah well, we got lucky with the fact that I had both Barricade and Jazz along for the ride. Without being able to snag some of that energon from them, she wouldn't be anywhere close to being up and running." Daniel replied.

"**How bad was the energon leakage?" **Ratchet asked when he spotted the still active IV pumps.

"There wasn't any, luckily. But the stuff she had was nearly depleted, and pretty much useless, so I gave her an immediate transfusion from Jazz and Barricade. She says that her fuel converter is shot and unrepairable, along with her energon regulator. So I'm keeping the transfusion going and using her diagnostic computer to know when to drain off some of the excess. Other than those two systems, it was mostly structural damage, so we got the armor off and started on the joints and any other problems we could find." Daniel reported.

"**Humpf! Good work, all of you."** Ratchet said in approval as he made a quick scan to see for himself if there was anything the crazed human had missed. Then he caught a whiff of the air.

"**What the slag did you do, douse her in perfume? With her stuck in her protoform? Do you have any idea what that can cause? Every bot, femme and mech alike, from here to Cybertron and back will be trying to rip her chest plates open to spark bond with her!" **Ratchet bellowed.

"It's a LUBRICANT! I can't help the way it smells! I needed it to get the job done, so that's what I used! If ya don't like it, then there's the door. Don't let it hit you in the ass on your way out!" Daniel shot back angrily.

"**Show me! I want to see the lubricant that smells like THAT!"** Ratchet demanded.

Mikeala wordlessly walked over and offered the medic a spray bottle filled with WD-40, she also handed up an empty jug of it for the medic to examine. Ratchet checked the contents of the bottle against the residue in the original container, then he read the entire label.

"**Humpf! What are the odds that a human lubricant could be used as cologne on Cybertron?"** The medic wondered aloud.

"That's exactly what he said!" Maigan exclaimed as she gave her uncle a weird look.

Ratchet didn't say anything in response; instead he began pulling the spare components that he'd brought with him out of subspace.

With Ratchet's expertise there to guide and help, the job went that much faster. The replacement systems were installed in short order. After that, Ratchet downloaded the specs of Starglide's alt mode from her and began calling out the measurements needed for armor panels, while Maigan cut them, Ratchet checked them to make sure the cuts were spot on, Daniel held them, and Mikeala welded the panels into place.

Though long tedious and tiring, the job was made much easier by the team effort. The efficiency with which everyone did their part had both the notoriously grumpy medic and the ornery salvage operator, cutting up and being generally pleasant for a change.

Five and a half hours after he got there, Ratchet nodded in satisfaction.

"**I do not want to see or even HEAR of you transforming for at least a Terran week! Those joints of yours haven't been lubricated or even moved in nearly a vorn. I want you in your standard form and moving around as much as possible, to integrate your own natural lubrication into those joints. That stuff the humans came up with is good, but your own fluids are far better."** Ratchet lectured her.

As the medic was leaving the room, Mikeala turned to the femme and whispered.

"Don't take it personally, he gripes everyone out. Usually it's a LOT worse than that!" Mikeala told her.

Musical sounding laughter erupted from the now repaired femme.

"**Oh, yes. I'm very familiar with Ratchet's quirks, as you might call them. So I KNOW how bad he can get."** Starglide replied just as quietly, not wanting to let Mikeala know that the medic could easily hear them.

As the group walked out of the storage room, they could see Capt. Lennox and the men from his team crowded around a man in a wheel chair. The Hispanic was proudly showing off his legs, but when he extended one of them while explaining something, Ratchet came unglued.

"**PUT THAT LEG DOWN YOU PIT SPAWNED SLAGGER! I didn't just spend hours telling the laws of natural science and biology to kiss my aft by regenerating your legs from nothing more than pair of mangled stumps so that you could snap those partially formed bones by showing off!" **Ratchet bellowed. **"I don't want you to MOVE those legs for at least twenty-four hours! Do you understand me?"**

General Mallory snapped his attention up to the electric green decorated medic.

"Am I to understand that those legs were completely amputated?" The General asked in amazement.

Upon seeing the round of affirmative nods from the men, General Mallory turned a nasty glare on Figueroa.

"I'm not sure just how much trouble he had in accomplishing what we would see as impossible, but I can tell you this. If I hear of you moving or using those legs against his orders, I will personally see to it that you will spend the next thirty years scrubbing every last nasty latrine on every military base with your personal toothbrush! Have I made myself clear, Soldier?" General Mallory spoke in such a quiet, but deadly serious tone, that even Ratchet wasn't sure he wanted to frag this officer off.

It was at that point that everyone realized that Ratchet was standing there instead of working on Starglide. The medic was immediately besieged with such a huge barrage of questions that the medic was very glad it wasn't weapons fire. As fast as the questions were flying, it became so silent that one could have heard an infant breathing when the femme stepped from the room and into the hallway. Nearly everyone was speechless as they looked at her. Everyone except general Mallory, that is.

"Ma'am, as the commanding officer of this base, I would like to officially welcome you to Nellis Air Force base. I am sad to say that our hospitality up to this point has been severely lacking, but I would enjoy the opportunity to make it up to you. So if there is anything you need or would like in the way of amenities, please feel free to let me know." General Mallory said with a pleasantly warm and welcoming smile.

Starglide couldn't resist flashing a genuine smile of her own as she knelt down to better face the human officer.

"**Thank you. I appreciate that. About the only thing I need right now is a bit of energon to put in my tank and a paint job."** She replied.

The first request was filled instantly when Daniel tapped her leg and handed her a one gallon jug of the energon from the supply that Ironhide had brought. He had planned on trying something with the stuff, but changed his mind when the femme had spoken up.

"**Thank you." **She said with a smile.

"Ma'am, the men in the motor pool can help with the paint job, but I'm not entirely sure that military drab would be entirely to your liking. Are there any particular colors that you prefer?" General Mallory replied.

At that moment an image appeared in front of them. The projection was only seven feet tall, but it was clearly an image of the femme currently in their company. Colored in rose pink, light grey, and chrome; the image of the femme that was being projected was smiling beautifully at the observers. The vision of mechanical loveliness that stood there in the projection was vastly different from the dull metal grey of the actual femme that stood with them.

"**Those colors, she prefers those colors." **Barricade said softly as he shut off the projection.

"Colonel. I want you to send someone into Vegas. Tell 'em to pick up a dozen gallons of ten different shades of pink, five gallons of red, five gallons of white, five gallons of grey, and ten gallons of chrome paint. This lovely lady here; would like to look her best." General Mallory ordered.

"Since I'm off duty now, I'll do it myself. What about the paperwork?" Col. Anderson asked without hesitation.

"Can you cover it? If you can I'll reimburse you out of my own pocket." General Mallory replied.

At that moment every member of Capt. Lennox's team was digging in their BDUs (Battle Dress Uniforms) for their wallets.

"Here! Put it on my credit card. It's the least I can do after getting my legs back." Sgt. Figueroa said proudly. Before he started rattling off a spate of Spanish that no one understood.

Capt. Lennox put his hand on the Hispanic's shoulder and leaned closer.

"Fig. Fig, how many times we gotta tell ya man? Nobody understands that stuff." He said with a grin.

"Now see, I'd like to know why we didn't get that kind of welcome." Daniel said to Sgt. Epps in an offhand manner.

"We woulda got that kinda reception if you'd have let US do the talking!" Sgt. Epps shot back irritatedly.

"The Lady here got that kind of reception, because she is a lady. YOU got the reception that you did because you are a pain in the rear!" General Mallory said after overhearing the two comments.

Daniel shook his head in disgust and went back into the storage room to grab his jacket and ice chest. He was cracking open the last of his Java Monsters when Ratchet scanned him.

Ratchet growled deep in his chest as he got the results of his scan.

"Now Bones, before you start your bitchin. My arm is gonna be just fine in a day or two. So it's no big deal. I got her repair systems working, so it was worth it." Daniel said with a grin.

"**You, recharge NOW!"** Ratchet demanded angrily as he stared down at the salvage operator.

"That's exactly what I'm doing!" Daniel said with a huge grin as he held aloft the last of his Java Russians.

Faster than Daniel could react, Ratchet reached down, snatched the energized coffee drink from Daniel's hand, and crushed it. The sound that emerged from the medic as his dental plates ground against each other was one that sent chills up the spines of everyone present human and bot alike.

The only individual present that wasn't intimidated by the sight of the irate medic, was the more than slightly crazed salvage operator. Not having a crow bar handy for once, Daniel reached into his back pocket and pulled out his pocket knife. With a flick of his wrist, the blade was open and ready for business.

"You'd better have one damned good reason for doin that. Cuz if ya don't I'm gonna slash every last damned tire you got in a dozen places!" Daniel said as he got pissed and stepped forward to fight.

"**My reasons for it are none of your slagging business! I told you to recharge and that means for you to find someplace to get some SLEEP! That means NOW, slagger!"** Ratchet said as he took up his own combat stance.

_Author's notes: Can you say cliffhanger? If you want to find out how the fight goes and who's going to win, then you'll have to read the next chapter, which is coming soon! :-)_


	10. Chapter 10

ROH Chapter 10

Ratchet knew this particular human could be very dangerous when he had reason to be, so there was no way that the medic was going to underestimate Daniel. Ratchet was about to try to grab the ticked off salvage operator, and disarm him, when he found himself being grabbed by Ironhide, Starglide, and Bumblebee.

Both Jazz and Barricade were soon struggling to keep a solid grip on the ticked off human. Daniel wasn't about to be stopped that easily. He reacted quick as a cat to make sure that his right hand was free when the two mechs had grabbed him. Now he was stabbing at the joints in their fingers and wrists with his pocket knife trying to sever the wires so he could get loose.

"**OWWW! You Primus damned pit spawned Slagging Glitch!" **Barricade yelled in pain as Daniel finally hit one of the marks he was aiming for.

Unfortunately for Daniel, the target that he hit was Barricade's right hand, and Daniel was forced to drop his weapon as an excruciating amount of pain shot through his right hand.

"God-damnit! Lemme GO! I'm gonna rip the bastards head off and shit in the hole! I'm gonna use his fuggin head for a damned port a can! I'm gonna piss in his fuel tanks!" Daniel was yelling as he continued to struggle.

Ratchet wasn't too happy either. First, he couldn't believe that anyone would actually have the temerity to restrain him. Second, the threats that Daniel was yelling were getting just a little too serious for his liking.

"**Barricade, take that slagging glitch somewhere and make sure that he sleeps it off! I don't want him on his feet for at least eight hours!" **Ratchet ordered. **"And you! You'd better be grateful that I'm not putting you in a coma until you get all of that caffeine and nicotine out of your system. . ."** Ratchet's voice trailed off as he watched Daniel get free from Barricade's grasp.

The pain from having several wires in his right hand severed had forced Barricade to let the human go. The former Decepticon realized then that this wasn't one of the joking games that the crazed human had been playing with him. Daniel was serious, and he wasn't planning on stopping until this was settled!

Quickly reaching down to scoop up the dropped pocket knife with his left hand, Daniel wasn't aware that he'd just laid his hand open on the near surgically sharp blade. Even if he had been aware of it, he wouldn't have stopped anyway.

Jazz was about to try his hand at stopping the man, when Master Gunnery Sergeant Romero stepped forward and grabbed Daniel's hand in a reverse wrist lock. Painful and effective, the heavy weapons specialist wasted no time in forcing the ticked off salvage operator to his knees. Suddenly, the Special Forces veteran used his left hand to point an M-79 grenade launcher loaded with 40 millimeter SABOT rounds straight at Ratchet's face!

"Both of you break it up! NOW!" The man roared in a voice meant to be heard over the noise of the M-60 heavy machine gun that he usually carried.

Ratchet stopped struggling as he stared down the barrel of the human built weapon. A scan showed highly elevated vital signs in the man that was not only pointing a weapon at him, but also restraining his would be assailant with one hand. Ratchet knew the soldier meant business.

"Let him go, if he tries anything, he gets dropped!" MGy. Sgt. (Master Gunnery Sergeant) Romero told the bots holding the medic.

Ratchet continued to stare at the soldier pointing the grenade launcher at him as Starglide, Ironhide, and Bumblebee let him go.

Suddenly, Daniel's right fist came up as he hit the soldier right in the crotch. It was a low blow, but it was enough for Daniel to get loose. Getting his left hand free wasn't a problem as the soldier sank to his knees after the painful shot. Daniel moved fast. With his left arm still numb from being used as a conductor, he'd actually played possum until he could figure out a way to get loose.

Moving faster than anyone would have believed; Daniel began climbing up Ratchet's body like a monkey on crack. Ratchet wasn't about to react because he was still focused on the weapon that was still being pointed at him with an aim that was as steady as a rock.

Just then, the fight was broken up by an unlikely source, as Starglide swept Ratchet's legs out from under him, sending the medic sprawling out on the floor and his human antagonist sliding.

Quicker than a cat, Starglide had a plasma sword partially extended and pointed straight at Ratchet's face, her long range plasma cannon was pointed over at Daniel.

"**The next one of you to move will only be able to WISH that I had killed you." ** She stated in a soft, but deadly tone that promised infinite worlds of pain.

"Whoa! Man, talk about skills! The Lady sure knows what she's doing!" Sgt. Epps said in admiration as he looked at the two sprawled out combatants.

"**Oh yeah! She can deal with the best of 'em!"** Jazz said with a grin.

"**This is over, and it had better STAY over, or I'll see to it that BOTH of are stuck in either a med bay or a brig, even if I have to build it myself!" **Starglide told the two of them.

Ratchet nodded his understanding. He'd known the femme for a long time, and he knew that while she was normally very easy going and slow to draw her weapons, he also knew that once she did pull out those weapons, she never bluffed and she never missed, and there was no way that he was going to challenge her on this.

Ratchet was about to say something when there was the monstrous roar of a plasma cannon being fired! Everyone looked around at where the cannon had been fired, fully expecting there to be nothing to be left of the salvage operator.

Daniel was climbing to his feet. He had completely ignored Starglide's warning not to move, and he was now ignoring her warning shot.

"**That was the last warning you will receive Daniel. Do not think that just because you saved my life that I will not fire on you! I said this was over and I meant it." **Starglide hissed in a cold rage.

"Oh, I know you meant it. And you're right, this is over, but if it ever happens again; all bets are off!" Daniel said just as seriously. "That's twice Bones! I told you before, there are two things you don't EVER fuck with, and that's my smokes and my caffeine. If there comes a third time, you'd better install some eyes in the back of your head and sleep with 'em open, cuz I'll tell ya straight out. I'm THE most vindictive son-of-a-bitch on this planet, or any OTHER planet! I ALWAYS get MORE than even and I've even been know to wait years for my revenge!" Daniel warned the medic as he walked past the still seething Starglide.

Daniel headed straight into the storage room to grab a Red Bull, and a couple of sandwiches from the small supply that was left.

In pure disbelief Starglide looked over at Barricade.

"**Is he glitched or something? Was there even ANY fear in him?"** She asked her creation in surprise, knowing that with the bond he shared with the human that he could answer the question.

"**I seriously doubt it. He's not functioning with a full processor. Nearly a fourth of his brain has almost no function at all, and it happens to be the section that is responsible for emotional control and response. So, yes he IS glitched!"** Ratchet answered grumpily before Barricade could reply.

Starglide rounded on the CMO who had just gotten to his feet, and stuck her still partially extended plasma sword into the medic's face.

"**Do you mean to tell me that you KNEW his processing abilities were impaired, and you STILL provoked him? From what he said before he left, this is obviously NOT the first time that you've provoked him like that! You did so deliberately, KNOWING what the result would be, and you still did it! That is no different from damaging (Untranslatable Cybertronian) paintjob; you know good and well what the result will be. One highly enraged mech! If you are arrogant enough to think that you can do whatever you want to someone just because YOU think it's a good idea, then you fully deserve the damage that you get!"** Starglide lectured the medic.

"**It's for his own slagging good! Those energy drinks even have a warning on them, not to consume more than three per day, and he goes through more than a DOZEN in a single day! I've SEEN him do it!" **Ratchet said in his defense.

"**That is entirely beside the point; you KNEW that interfering in such a fashion would provoke him." **Starglide said not letting the medic out of it so easily.

Everyone's attention at that point was drawn to the Master Gunnery Sergeant who groaned in pain as he finally got to his feet after being racked.

"Who's bleedin?" He asked spotting several large drops of blood on the floor as he was getting up.

Instantly five scanners were focused on every human in the vicinity. Four Autobots and one former Decepticon looked at one another in concern as they realized that none of the humans in the hallway were injured enough to lose any blood. That left only one. Five sets of optics turned to focus on Daniel as he came out of the storage room with a sandwich in his right hand and a Red Bull in his left.

"Where's the blood coming from?" Maigan promptly demanded of her uncle.

Daniel looked at her in surprise. "What blood?" He asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

"THAT blood!" Maigan said pointing to the floor.

"Beat's me. It ain't mine." Daniel said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh yeah? Then what's that all over your hand?" Maigan said angrily as she pointed at the blood still dripping from her uncle's left hand.

"Awww SHIT!" Daniel said just before he shoved the last of his sandwich in his mouth and transferred the Red Bull to his right hand.

Maigan grabbed her uncle's wrist and pulled his hand out so she could look at it. Everyone stared at Daniel's hand in shock at the deep slice right across the palm of his hand which was slowly filling with a chrome colored substance that was sealing off the wound and stopping the flow of blood.

General Mallory whistled through his teeth as he looked at the strange sight.

"Holy shit." Sgt. Epps said quietly as he too watched the unnerving scene.

"Man, now THAT'S wicked!" Capt. Lennox finally said.

Ratchet scanned the salvage operator to see if any tendons had been damaged by the injury.

"**How the slagging pit did you manage to overload every nerve in that arm!"** Ratchet angrily demanded after his scan.

Starglide instantly rounded on the salvage operator; her blue optics glowing nearly white in her outrage.

"**You did that while repairing me didn't you? That's what you meant when you said that you'd hang on to that wire as long as you could, isn't it? Of all the irresponsible, unnecessary, and downright RECKLESS acts, I've ever heard of; that is the WORST! You knew that there was more help on the way! You even told me so yourself! So there was obviously no need to do something like that; risking limb and even your very LIFE to get my regeneration systems online, and for WHAT? So you could have bragging rights maybe, or did you get some type of strange pleasure out of the pain you endured? How do think I would feel if you had lost permanent use of that arm, or if you had died? Do you actually think that I could live with myself knowing, KNOWING that it had been for nothing? Please don't get me wrong I appreciate the lengths that you went to in order to save my life, but that was nothing short of recklessly GLITCHED!" **Starglide said as she advanced towards Daniel with every word.

Daniel was forced to back up, not only to avoid being stepped on, which he thought was a distinct possibility, but also to maintain eye contact with the outraged femme.

Then Daniel held up his left hand in front of his face where the femme could easily see it, and wiggled his fingers.

"It still works. So no harm, no foul." Daniel said simply as he took a slug from the Red Bull.

"**THAT'S your excuse?! Do you actually believe that to be sufficient justification for what you did?"** Starglide demanded.

"You tell 'im Starglide! He deserves every bit of it!" Maigan encouraged.

"Oh, Thanks a LOT!" Daniel told his niece sarcastically.

"You're very welcome!" Maigan replied in the sweetest tone she could manage which brought chuckles from several of the others, especially General Mallory.

"**I am telling him! And thank you, but, I am perfectly capable of handling this myself, and I don't want him trying to blame anyone else for this little attitude adjustment."** Starglide said pleasantly before turning back to Daniel.

At this point Barricade leaned down and gently tapped Maigan on the shoulder. **"Leave it alone. She's not fragged off yet, and trust me; that is NOT something you EVER want to see."** Barricade warned quietly.

Starglide heard the warning from her creation, but decided to ignore it since he had spoken only as loud as needed for the girl to hear him. Instead, she kept her focus on Daniel.

"**Well? I am still waiting for an answer!"** Starglide demanded patiently while crossing her arms over her chest and staring down at the sole focus of her attention.

Daniel didn't say anything as he picked up his jacket and dug out his smoke. Once he'd lit one, he looked back up at Starglide.

"I said I'd give it my best shot, and I did. Nuff said." Daniel told her.

Thinking that would put an end to the confrontation, Daniel started to walk past her.

"**Oh, no you DON'T!"** Starglide said as she knelt down, reached out and grabbed Daniel and placed him firmly against a wall. Then she leaned forward until her olfactory sensor was nearly touching the human's nose, to make certain that she had his undivided attention.

"**I don't care how glitched you pretend to be, or how impaired your processing ability really is. Because it's obviously not THAT impaired if you are able to conduct repairs on us as effectively as you have. Like it or not, your actions have consequences. They affect everyone around you, whether you realize it or not. The sooner you DO realize that and take heed to what can and will result from your actions the better off you'll be. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"** Starglide said in a stern but polite tone.

Daniel appeared to actually consider the femme's words for a minute or two before he suddenly burst out laughing.

Starglide stared at the laughing junkyard owner for several seconds before she stood up and turned around to face Barricade.

"**Why is he LAUGHING?"** She demanded in disbelief.

"**I have no idea, but I doubt you'll like the answer when you find out." ** Barricade answered cringing away from his mother's wrath.

Starglide whipped around and immediately resumed her previous position of nose to nose with the still laughing human.

"**Would you care to fill me in on the joke? I could use something to laugh about myself you know."** Starglide said pleasantly with a sweet smile on her face that did NOT reach her narrowed optics.

"Well, I couldn't decide whether to blow you a kiss or actually plant one on ya!" Daniel told her still laughing. "Anybody ever tell you that you're cute when you're angry?"

"**Oh SLAG!"** Four mechs said in unison as they waited for the devastating eruption of rage that they knew, just KNEW was about to ensue.

"What the hell's gotten into you?" Maigan demanded in shock when she heard that.

Starglide's optics had widened in disbelief when she heard the human's comment. She'd actually had to replay it in her processors several times to make sure she had heard and understood him correctly.

"**Let me tell you something, you demented little being! I am NOT some pleasure bot to be used for your amusement, and I will NOT tolerate being treated in that manner! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"** Starglide finished in a barely controlled roar.

Daniel had stopped laughing and waited until she had finished speaking, before he spoke up.

"For future reference, if you don't wanna know what I'm thinking; don't ask! I ain't gonna lie about anything; it only causes problems later on down the line, and I rather deal with any problems right when they happen. Saves me the trouble later. And as for the rest of that. There is no way in hell that I'd EVER treat a woman that way, otherwise I wouldn't have told you about it, I'd have just DONE it! Now IF you're done chewing on my ass, I'd LIKE to find a place to grab some grub, and a spot to crash, before trying to deal with everything else that we've got sitting ahead of us." Daniel told her candidly as he slid out from in front of her and headed down the hall towards the lift.

Starglide stood up and reached both hands towards her head. It was obvious to everyone that she would have pulled her own hair out if she'd had any. She continued to stare after the human until he rounded a corner and was out of sight.

"**Is he ALWAYS like that?"** She asked the group in general.

"Yeah, pretty much. But one thing you'll never have to worry about is his honesty. I've seen it get him into more trouble than you'd believe, when a polite lie would have gotten him out of it. That's why I NEVER ask him how I look, because I know that I might not like the answer! He'll either say exactly what's on his mind, or he won't say anything, and he won't pull any punches when he says it either." Maigan told her plainly.

Starglide thought this over for several seconds as she replayed the entire series of events in her processors.

"**Well, there IS such a thing as a little TOO much honesty, but at least it's an honesty that I can respect." **Starglide finally answered.

Seeing that the problems were over for now, General Mallory turned to Maj. Atkins who had relieved Col. Anderson as the OOD.

"Why don't you get some men to set up a few conference tables in hangar six so that we can figure out where to go from here?" General Mallory told him.

Just then, Daniel came walking back around the corner, along with Sec Def Keller, Mrs. Keller, Agent Bannacheck, and Optimus Prime.

"There she is, but don't expect me to make the introductions, cuz she is NOT too happy with me right now." Daniel was saying.

Sec Def Keller turned on Daniel instantly.

"Son, just what in tarnation did you do now?" Sec Def Keller demanded in a no nonsense tone.

"Well, let's see. It all started because Ratchet thought that I'd had too much coffee, which there ain't no such thing. So he snatched it away from me, and crushed it. So I was gonna put a whupin on him to write all the way home about. Barricade grabbed me, I sliced his hand a bit to get loose, snatched up the pocket knife I dropped and started back after Ratchet, when one of the Joe's grabbed me, so I racked him a good one, got loose, without my knife this time, and went back after Bones. Then, when I finally get my hands on him, Starglide knocks him right out from under me. She did a pretty good job of putting a stop to the fight. So then, she tells us that it's over and for it to stay that way. I told her FINE! Then I gave Ratchet his last warning about pissing me off. I went and grabbed a new drink an' a sandwich from the storage room that Starglide was in when we were workin on her. I could hear her chewing Ratchet's ass out from inside for pissing me off to begin with. Then, when I came out, it was apparently my turn to get chewed out for using my hand as a conductor to get her repair systems online. She demanded to know why I did it, and then when I told her, she didn't like my answer. So she chewed me out some more. But I think the worst part happened last when she was probably almost done chewing me out. I wound up laughing my ass of because of a stupid thought, and she wanted to know about it, when I told her she got pissed all over again. I told her how it was and left, which was when I ran into you, so here we are." Daniel said matter of factly.

"And just what was it that you said to make her angry at you again? I DO believe you left THAT part out." Sec Def Keller demanded suspiciously.

"I told her that she looked cute when she's angry, and I couldn't figure out whether to blow her a kiss or give her one." Daniel said simply as he lit a smoke.

"Son, have you lost your ever lovin mind? Do you have ANY sense in that damned head of yours? Haven't you learned better than to pop off at a ticked off woman? Didn't your mother ever teach you better than that?" Sec Def Keller demanded angrily.

"Oh HELL! Here we go again!" Daniel lamented.

"You're damned right; here we go again! You're causing problems all over the place! Now you done a marvelous job of fixing these folks up like I asked you to, but if you keep causing trouble like this, you're gonna regret it. And I mean that!" Sec Def Keller told Daniel.

The salvage operator sighed tiredly as he shook his head and headed back to the storage room to see if there were still some sandwiches left. He was making his way through the group when General Mallory stopped him.

"I ever see or hear of you putting your hands on another soldier again, and I don't care WHO you work for, I WILL see to it that you're brought up on charges! Do I make myself clear?" General Mallory told him.

Daniel had had enough! He turned to look the General straight in the eye.

"Yeah. You've made yourself perfectly clear! So you'd better make DAMNED sure that none of your soldiers ever puts their hands on me again, cuz if they do, then if I'm gonna get locked up again, I'm gonna make DAMNED sure that it's worth it. This means that you or someone else will have to explain a funeral to the next of kin!" Daniel told the General in a soft tone that said he was deadly serious.

"Is that a threat?" General Mallory asked angrily.

"Nope. It's a God damned promise!" Daniel snarled quietly.

"Now you just hold up there a minute Boy! You're not gonna go around making threats to kill people! I'm NOT gonna tolerate it, ya hear?" Sec Def Keller said as he shook his finger in Daniel's face.

"Then he'd better not threaten me! Cuz I do NOT respond well to threats! And if you have anything else to say in the way of an ass chewing then you'd better save it for another time, cuz I've had more than a belly full today!" Daniel said as he turned around and shouldered past his boss and headed to the lift.

Secretary of Defense John Keller knew when people had reached their limit, and clearly Daniel had reached his a while ago. Sec Def Keller let the man leave, while he made a mental note to continue this later.

Several pairs of eyes and optics watched Daniel leave. When General Mallory heard the lift start up, he went over to the intercom and issued orders not to let the man leave the base or enter any restricted areas.

Optimus walked over to Starglide and the others taking care not to accidentally step on any of the humans, and requested a report from Starglide.

Not knowing just how far Optimus was willing to trust the humans, Starglide sent her report via data burst. She had been one of the bots sent to search for the All Spark, and she knew that she had detected its energy signature here on this world. She had been trying to triangulate that signature when the ship occupied by non native organics had collided with her.

After receiving this report, Optimus bowed his head and shook it sadly.

"**I know about the All Spark being located here. Sadly it was sacrificed in an effort to save my life by killing Megatron."** Optimus told her gently.

Starglide staggered back against the wall of the corridor as she processed the implications of what her leader had just told her.

"**Then. Then there is no hope left for Cybertron is there?"** She asked in shock.

Optimus shook his head in reply. He didn't say anything, because there was nothing that could be said. He remembered Daniel telling him about the possibility that the All Spark could be rebuilt, but there was no way that he was going to give any of his people a sense of false hope in case the salvage operator was wrong.

The look of despair that was written all over the femme tore at Maigan's heart. She walked over and placed her hand on the femme's leg to get her attention. When Starglide looked down at her, Maigan gathered her thoughts before she spoke.

"Cybertron is a world of robots right? Well, don't give up yet. If there's a way to fix it, we'll find it. Just give us some time okay?" Maigan told her in an effort to cheer the femme up just a tiny bit.

Starglide looked down at the earnest expression on the teen's face, and couldn't help but give her a light smile even though her spark wasn't in it.

That was when Maigan spotted her uncle's pocket knife laying on the floor. She walked over and picked it up, before turning back to look around at who ever might be in charge with all the VIPs in the hallway.

"So what happens now?" Maigan asked curiously.

"**Well first, someone needs to go find that little slagger and put him to sleep!"** Ratchet said irritably.

"SAY WHAT?!" Maigan yelled at the medic. "I don't care what you think about him, but my uncle isn't some stupid animal to be euthanized just because you don't like him! None of this mess would have happened if you hadn't tried to be a bad ass and throw your weight around and jack him for his last can of coffee! You started that fight and everybody here knows it!" Maigan screamed at the medic as she advanced on him with every word.

"**I never said anything about killing him!"** Ratchet retorted angrily.

"Call it a VERY bad choice of words then. Because you might as well have said 'shoot him like a mad dog'! Maybe you didn't notice, or care, but his back was killing him in there when we were working on Starglide. It probably doesn't mean much to you, but he does what he has to so he can get things done and get SOME enjoyment out of life." Maigan yelled at the medic hotly.

"**I took that stuff away from him for his own good. Those things are gonna KILL him at the rate that he goes through them!" **Ratchet shot back.

"Yeah? Well, he has a choice. Either use enough caffeine to kill a horse, or enough morphine to be so doped up that he can't even play one of his stupid video games! Considering that he HATES drugs; he uses enough caffeine to keep going until he drops! Then, maybe, just MAYBE he'll be tired enough to sleep through the muscle cramps that wake him up every fifteen or twenty minutes! After that, guess what? It would take him another couple of hours at least just to get back to sleep. He'd have to spend the rest of his life in bed just trying to get some rest. So, yeah, he over does it on the caffeine, and hides how much pain he's in, but I'd like to see just how well you deal with things after someone breaks YOUR back, or whatever it is you use for one!" Maigan shouted at the CMO before she turned away to go find her uncle.

"**Really? Is that really the case, or is he just too reckless to care about his health? What about him using his hand as a conductor in a needless method of repairing her regeneration system? What was that?"** Ratchet yelled back at the teen not willing to let the subject drop.

"**Whether Daniel's actions were reckless or not is beside the issue here! You KNEW that your actions would provoke an incident similar to what actually occurred. And from his words afterwards, I would say that this isn't the first time you've done so. What did you do the last time Ratchet; throw a wrench at him in the manner that you're famed for?"** Starglide said coming to the young teen's aid.

"**No! I did NOT throw my wrench at him! That would have killed the little fragger! It was a couple boxes of tissues!"** Ratchet grumbled in his defense.

Barricade winced visibly when he heard that, knowing how his creator felt about profanity.

"**THAT will be the absolute LAST time you use that kind of language to me Ratchet! Or you WILL find yourself at the wrong end of my sniper cannon! And I suppose that you hit him in the head with those boxes didn't you?"** Starglide demanded.

Ratchet stayed silent while he glared at the femme. He could see that this was going straight to the pit, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"The first one hit him in the back of his head; the second one hit him straight in the face!" Maigan informed her.

"**Of course they did! But then, that's exactly what Ratchet is know for; his TEMPER! So now he's taken to provoking someone that has a total lifespan of less than two vorns. Just how many vorns of experience do you have as a medic Ratchet? Even were he to live ten times his normal lifespan, you would still have an advantage of several thousand times his experience! That means that you KNOW better! Even the oldest human on this entire planet would be considered freshly sparked by our standards, and you know it! Our sparklings aren't even allowed to leave our homes on their own until they've had several hundred human lifetimes of experience behind them! And for you to deliberately provoke one of them? What has gotten into you? Or should I even ask? Is it possible that you are jealous of the human's skill at repairs? That someone with the merest fraction of your vast experience might be considered better than you? Is that it?"** Starglide said badgering the CMO.

"**No, that is NOT the problem! That glitch had no reason to use his hand as a conductor the way he did!"** Ratchet said in a futile attempt to divert the femme's wrath.

"**I think that might be my fault."** Ironhide interrupted quietly, sure that he would be regretting it soon.

"**By what strange reasoning could Daniel's actions be considered YOUR fault?" **Starglide demanded of her brother.

"**I. I asked him to pull off one more miracle, like he did with Jazz and Barricade. He said he wouldn't make any promises, but that he would give it everything he had. I didn't mean for him to risk his life doing it."** Ironhide said with a somewhat sheepish expression.

"That's because when my uncle gives his word, he keeps it, or you'll get one damned good reason why he couldn't keep it!" Maigan said in disgust as she turned back to leave.

Ratchet turned his attention to Barricade who was getting the wires in his hand spliced back together by Jazz.

"**Just how much pain is he in?"** Ratchet asked the former Decepticon.

Barricade frowned as he concentrated on the sensations that he was feeling from the human he had formed a bond with.

"**No more than usual. Right now, he's mostly fragged off, disgusted and tired."** Barricade finally answered.

"Well, look. I think it's been a very long day, and everyone just needs some time to calm down before we go any further with this." Sec Def Keller stated.

"In that case. I'll make sure that we have some sort of conference area set up in hangar six so that we can continue this tomorrow." General Mallory replied as the group started towards the lift.

Daniel had taken the lift that everyone had come down on, but that wasn't a problem. General Mallory simply led the group to an alternate lift. Much like the elevators on an aircraft carrier, these lifts were designed and built to move large and extremely heavy equipment. They were exactly like those on an aircraft carrier except that these were much larger versions.

Optimus couldn't resist the urge to scan the surrounding area to get some idea as to just how large the facility was. The readings he got nearly staggered him. Almost every one of the under ground hallways were large enough to accommodate even his size and bulk. As far as his scanner could reach through the surrounding bedrock, corridors, hallways, and rooms. All more than ample to provide living space for the much larger Cybertronians that might soon arrive.

"**Just how far underground does this complex extend?"** Optimus asked in surprised curiosity.

General Mallory had to laugh. He knew the place was huge. He had been the commanding officer of this base for three years now, and even he hadn't seen all of it. He knew that the vast underground complex was a true modern marvel of human engineering and ingenuity, on a par with Stonehenge or the pyramids; it was just a shame that few would ever know it.

"To be honest, I'm not actually sure. It'd take a team of surveyor's years to comb through all levels we have in this place. I've heard some of my men refer to it as an iceberg. Except that I think what's on the surface is actually closer to a layer of snow on top of an iceberg. I mean take a look at what is really on the surface. A dozen or so hangars, a few office buildings, the BOQ, (Bachelor Officers Quarters) the PX, ATC Tower, and an airstrip. I've been told that some levels extend downward almost two thousand feet! I will say this, though. I think there's enough room in this place to house everyone you've got coming and a whole lot more. PLUS, you could add maybe a quarter million people to this base and there would still be places that wouldn't get used! Each underground level is extended through out the entire valley, so we can actually house more population than the entire city of Las Vegas!" General Mallory said proudly.

"Well, I'll be damned! It looks like that odd young man was right; this is the perfect place to house 'em." Sec Def Keller said mostly to himself.

As the group rounded a corner to get to the alternate lift, they entered a long hallway that made jaws drop in disbelief.

"Whoa! You could hold a bunch of drag races in here!" Maigan exclaimed loudly.

"**Oh, yeah! And when it comes time for our little rematch, you ain't gonna have that crazy little man doin the driving!"** Jazz said with a wide grin as he turned to Barricade.

"**What's the matter Autobot? Afraid he'll win this time?"** Barricade asked with a huge grin of his own.

The two mechs continued their banter for a few minutes until Bumblebee joined the fray. The quick and nimble scout knew that he didn't have the top speed to match either of the two mechs that he'd raced against the previous morning, but he also knew that he had the acceleration that would let him easily take them off the line or coming out of a turn.

The banter wasn't as energetic or lighthearted as it might have been. All three of the mechs were dead tired. Bumblebee had been running nonstop for a total of twenty-six hours While Jazz and Barricade had been in stasis lock for more than six hours. Barricade was feeling better than Jazz due to replacing most of his energon from the fresh supply that Ironhide had brought for his sister.

Some of the soldiers were beginning to snicker at the light but competitive trash talk that was going on between the three mechs when the group reached the hangar.

Maigan looked around to see if her uncle was there. He wasn't hard to spot thanks to the group of MPs that surrounded him. The man was sitting slumped against the west wall of the hangar with his legs crossed in front of him. Maigan could tell that he was asleep or very close to it, and she quickly asked the three mechs to quiet down.

General Mallory took one look at the situation and frowned. While he definitely wasn't too happy with the way the salvage operator had been acting while on his base, he'd made sure that even his brig had been equipped with a cot for a prisoner to sleep on. Seeing the man trying to sleep on the floor against an uninsulated steel wall made the officer's blood pressure rise. General Mallory quickly walked over to the senior MP and got his attention.

"Is there some reason why you didn't show him to a bunk?" General Mallory demanded quietly after he'd pulled the man off to the side.

"Sir. With respect, you gave a direct order that he was not to leave or enter any restricted areas. Since this entire base is restricted, he stays right here!" The MP responded without hesitation.

Maigan knew her uncle couldn't stay in that position for long without getting super stiff in his back. She started over to wake him up, when she was blocked by one of the MPs.

"Detail, Dismissed!" General Mallory said simply, before Maigan could try to say anything. The MPs saluted and began to file out of the hangar.

Maigan got to her uncle's side and began tapping his shoulder to wake him up. It took her a few tries to accomplish this, since Daniel had been on the go for quite a while. When he finally did open his eyes, it took him more than a few seconds to get his bearings.

"Come on, you can crash in the BOQ here on the surface. They may stay vacant, but they're kept spotless." General Mallory told Daniel when he saw that the junkyard owner was awake.

Daniel didn't say anything. Instead he clenched his jaw, gritted his teeth and bent to his right. The move was emphasized by the loud series of cracking noises that emerged from the man's back as he forced his body into mobility.

Ratchet and several others noticed Barricade wince and grab his side at Daniel's move. Ratchet watched almost helplessly as Barricade imitated the human's movements as Daniel repeated the process to the other side.

There were various looks of revulsion and disgust as Daniel began popping various joints in his body. Most notably his neck, wrists, and ankles. Then when Daniel got to his feet, he managed to pop both of his knees in short order.

"Yo man! How the hell can you do that to yourself?" Sgt. Epps asked disgustedly.

Daniel gave a rueful chuckle. "It's ether that or try to get around without being able to move, and that don't work too well. I've tried it." Daniel said tiredly.

"Lieutenant Meyers, would you escort this man to the BOQ for me, and assign someone to stand watch on it, in case he needs anything." General Mallory instructed.

Although General Mallory had a good reason to have someone on watch, it wasn't the reason specified. There were dozens of classified areas on the base that could be accessed at any given time, and he did NOT want some civilian in any of those areas.

When Maigan turned and asked Bumblebee for her duffle bag, the yellow and black scout dug two of them out of a subspace compartment and offered them to the teen. Maigan took them both, and expressed her thanks.

"Come on Mikeala, we can stay with him." Maigan suggested with a nod of her head in the direction of her uncle.

"Um, he doesn't snore does he?" Mikeala asked hopefully.

"Nah! The only time I've ever heard him snore is when he falls asleep in a car, and even then it's only because he's only part way asleep." Maigan answered.

With her one doubt settled, Mikeala grabbed her duffle bag from Maigan and followed the girl and her uncle to the BOQ. While Mikeala hadn't really spent enough time talking with Daniel to decide if she liked the man or not, she did know that Daniel had been more than ready to rip agent Simmons a new one for something she'd already paid him back for. So she knew that Maigan's uncle wouldn't be leering at her, or making any remarks that she didn't feel like putting up with. Besides, she was really starting to like Maigan, because while the two teens had different fields of expertise, they did have a lot of the same tastes in fashion, music and other interests in common.

The Lieutenant led the three civilians to a Hum-V and got in.

"I got Shotgun!" Mikeala yelled happily as her sky blue eyes lit up at the thought of riding in the eight point six litre Diesel with enough torque and power to tow a tour bus.

Maigan couldn't help but laugh.

"You think this is cool, you should try riding in Ironhide sometime! I swear; he is the ULTIMATE truck! I just wish that I could talk him into going mudding just once!" Maigan said with enthusiasm.

"You're kidding me right? Why in the world would you want to take him mudding?" Mikeala asked in disbelief.

"You mean you didn't hear about what he did when Uncle Daniel peeled out in him when he was coming to pick me up?" Maigan countered.

"No, I didn't hear anything about that. Why what happened?" Mikeala asked turning in her seat so she could face towards Maigan.

"Ironhide ripped a HUGE pair of ruts in the asphalt!" Maigan answered with a huge grin.

Mikeala stared at Maigan for several seconds with her eyes and mouth wide open in surprise.

"No way! You full of it! You've got to be joking!" Mikeala retorted.

"Nope! Swear to god! Daniel even got chewed out by the gate guard for it when we got back." Maigan said with a grin.

"Oh no. After hearing that; we've GOT to talk him into it!" Mikeala replied.

Lieutenant Meyers looked over at Mikeala with the strangest expression on his face.

"Let me see if I understand this correctly. The two of you want to take an alien robot; that if he had been built here on Earth would be worth countless BILLIONS of dollars, and talk him into going mudding?! Am I missing something here, because that idea sounds TOTALLY insane!" Lieutenant Meyers interrupted.

"It may sound crazy, but not half as crazy as a huge monster of a truck doing a hundred miles an hour through a mud hole!" Mikeala replied instantly with a grin that would have done Daniel proud.

The officer just shook his head and kept driving to the BOQ. When the Hum-V pulled to a stop, the two girls jumped out while still plotting possible ways of talking Ironhide into something that they just knew would be as big a blast as any thing that was hit by BOTH of the big mech's cannons.

Daniel climbed out of the Hum-V and semi staggered into the BOQ. He found the first bunk he came to and flopped down on it exhausted.

"Unh UH! No WAY! You better at least get them boots off and get on your back! I am NOT going to listen to you groan all day tomorrow!" Maigan lectured her uncle while shaking the weary man to make sure that she was heard.

With a sigh of disgust Daniel sat up and pulled off his boots and socks. Then he took off his shirt, laid down on top of the blanket and went to sleep.

"Umm, I have a slight problem." Mikeala told Maigan in a whisper.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Maigan asked.

"Well, I brought something to change into after working, but I didn't bring anything to sleep in." Mikeala answered a little more than slightly embarrassed.

"Hey, no problem! I know my uncle, so I pack for just about everything. I've got a spare shirt that I can loan you." Maigan told her with a smile.

"A shirt?" Mikeala asked doubtfully.

In response Maigan held up a pair of XL, double X-Tall T-shirts that would hang down just below the knees on either of the girls.

"Where did you get T-shirts THAT big?" Mikeala asked not really believing the size of the shirts in question.

"You can thank my uncle for these; he's really a big softy. He just tries to hide it by acting like a jerk. He keeps a whole closet full of clothes for me so that when I come to visit, I've always got something to wear. Why do you think I only needed three suitcases for the whole summer?" Maigan informed her.

"Cool, this means I can actually grab a shower before bed." Mikeala replied.

"GREAT idea!" Maigan blurted.

The two teens quickly grabbed their toiletries and headed for the showers at the back of the BOQ. The shower stalls didn't have complete privacy, in that the walls were just barely five feet high, and were elevated a full eighteen inches off the floor. So the girls knew that if anyone came in, they would have to cover up. Mikeala pointed this out with some concern.

"Don't worry about it. Daniel's a light sleeper, any strange noise and he wakes up fast. That's probably why he picked the bed next to the door." Maigan told her.

The two girls made short, but thorough work of getting the grease and grime off, before heading to bed themselves, after making plans for a much better one in the morning.

Daniel opened his eyes to the sounds of the two girls chatting away merrily as they took a shower. A glance at the widow showed him that it was now morning. A look at his diving watch showed that the countdown timer he'd set, read fifty-one hours till landing. With a slight groan the salvage operator rolled off the bunk to land on his hands and knees. He used the bed to help him climb to his feet. Then he grabbed his cigarettes and lighter and stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

Mikeala had been about to make a run to her duffle bag to get something when she saw Daniel getting up. Wrapped in nothing but a towel, the girl froze in fright, while she watched Daniel head outside. As soon as the man left, Mikeala ran over to her bag and grabbed what she needed before heading back to finish her shower.

"Your uncle's awake." She informed Maigan.

"Don't worry about it, he'll just go outside and smoke until one of us goes and gets him to let him know we're dressed." Maigan told her without hesitation.

"That's EXACTLY what he did." Mikeala replied with a strange look on her face.

"Well, you got to understand. He grew up in a lot of institutions, so he never had any kind of privacy at all. So that's the ONE thing he makes sure not to mess with. If he'd seen you and the towel slipped, I can guarantee that he'd have come close to breaking his neck while turning around to give you back your privacy!" Maigan told her seriously.

"You're kidding me right? You're telling me that he wouldn't at least try to sneak a look?" Mikeala demanded skeptically.

"Nope! I know that for a fact, because he actually wrenched his back really bad one day and even had to go to the doctor to get checked out, when it happened to me. I was so embarrassed; I swear EVERYTHING must have been red as a beet. When I tried to apologize he told me to go away and do whatever it was I needed to do, and he wouldn't even look at me, even after I got the towel fixed." Maigan told her a little sheepishly.

"He just keeps getting weirder and weirder, the more I know about him." Mikeala answered.

"Yeah, he can be really strange sometimes, but he can also be a blast to hang with too. That's the reason I visit almost every summer." Maigan replied with a smile as she finished her shower.

The two girls didn't bother to rush through anything as they got dressed, but once they had; Maigan went to the door and opened it.

"The showers are all yours. There's some clean clothes on your bed, and some soap and stuff by the sink." She told her uncle.

Daniel turned to look at her. "Y'all both decent?" He asked her bluntly.

"Yes!" Maigan replied with a laugh while shaking her head.

Daniel walked in and saw at a glance that Mikeala was indeed dressed and fixing her hair before starting on her makeup. Daniel grabbed his clothes and headed to the shower room at the back of the BOQ.

Daniel cranked up the water and was happily surprised at the pressure. Blasting almost like a fire hose, the water was good and hot. The salvage operator took his time, and enjoyed a quality shower the likes of which was rarely available anywhere else.

After his shower, Daniel headed to the sink to shave. Looking over what had been left for him he had to shake his head in consternation. The pink disposable razor, he had no problem with, and while he hadn't been thrilled with the bar of Caress soap, there wasn't anything else so he'd used it anyway, but the salvage operator drew the line at the Skintimate feminine shaving foam. There was no WAY that he was going to go around smelling like a bouquet of flowers on a base full of soldiers!

Daniel wet his face down with hot water and started in with the razor. He knew that he'd end up with a truly nasty case of razor burn, but there wasn't any help for it. After he shaved, he got dressed and went to get his boots on.

Daniel walked back to the bed he'd slept on and started pulling on his boots. Then he looked over to see if the two teens were ready to go. When he did his eyes bulged and his jaw dropped. If anything the two were dressed even better than they had been for the trip to Red Lobster.

"You two are trying to get me sent to prison aren't you?" Daniel demanded after he got his wits back.

"No, why? What do you mean?" Mikeala asked him while Maigan burst out laughing.

"Cuz I KNOW I'm gonna have to kill somebody for staring!" Daniel retorted.

Both girls burst out laughing hysterically at that comment, because they knew right away that it was a testament to just how good they really looked.

Mikeala had dressed in a light blue denim shirt and ruffled mini skirt that matched her eyes, while Maigan was again dressed in black. A form fitting top and skintight slacks. Both girls were wearing spike heels, and looking like they belonged at a Hollywood gala.

Maigan pulled her friend to her feet, and both girls spun in a pirouette to show off their outfits.

"Well, what do you think?" Mikeala asked happily.

Maigan's eyes shot wide open at that question, knowing that her uncle was going to be dead honest with his answer.

"I think I'm gonna have to kill someone within the hour!" Daniel ground out.

That only made the two girls laugh even harder as they got ready to leave. When the trio stepped outside, there was an MP waiting to escort them back to the hangar, where the conference room had been set up.

During the drive, the MP kept glancing in the rearview mirror and giving Daniel a sly grin. Finally Daniel leaned forward and tapped the soldier on his shoulder to make sure that he had the man's attention.

"They're my nieces, and they're underage!" Daniel warned in a very soft deadly tone.

The MP nodded his understanding and thereafter kept his eyes on the road. The tense silence in the Hum-V was so thick that Optimus wouldn't have been able to cut with even his massively powerful blade.

When they walked in the hangar, they saw that several people had already arrived and were sitting around the conference table having coffee and pastries. No one said a word of greeting to Daniel, but the two girls received several salutations from some of the soldiers that had gathered and were waiting for the meeting.

All three headed for the table that was covered with refreshments. There was a huge one hundred and twenty cup percolator coffee pot filled with a premium dark roast, which immediately drew both Daniel and his niece. Mikeala opted for a tall glass of ice cold orange juice instead of coffee. Both of the girls ignored the doughnuts in favor of a toasted bagel smothered with cream cheese. Daniel, however did grab a couple of bear claws before he stared fixing his coffee.

Daniel started by grabbing a cup and dumping enough sugar in it to fill it a fourth of the way up. THEN he added the coffee. When Daniel finally took a seat at the table, he noticed that Col. Anderson was giving him a horrified look.

"Do you want some pancakes to go with that syrup?" The Air Force officer asked bluntly.

"No thanks. But I'll take half a pack of No Doze if ya got it." Daniel replied with a half grin.

It was everything the salvage operator could do to keep from laughing at the expression on the officer's face when he said that. Daniel knew that both his caffeine intake and his sugar consumption horrified his doctors, and while they practically begged him to slow down on the stuff, he never did.

Daniel had just finished his bear claws, and was on his third cup of caffeinated syrup when General Mallory sat down in the chair to his left.

"Now I'm beginning to understand why you were concerned about the possible murder charge yesterday. I didn't think women like that could exist without lots of help from an airbrush and plastic surgery! Do they ALWAYS go around looking like that?" General Mallory asked with a nod in the direction of the two girls who were standing off to the side talking with Jazz and Bumblebee.

"I don't know about the other one, but unfortunately, my niece sure does." Daniel answered.

"I've heard it before, but I never believed it until now, but they HAVE to be putting something in the water!" General Mallory said quietly.

"I know what you mean! I don't know what it is, but I can tell ya that I wish two things. That they had used it when I was a kid, and that they had stopped when SHE was a kid!" Daniel replied seriously.

The base commander burst out laughing at that comment.

"I just hope my little girl never decides to dress like that." Capt. Lennox piped up.

"Yeah, how old is she?" Daniel asked.

"She just turned four months old, and she'll already break your heart." Capt Lennox stated proudly.

"That means you got more trouble than I do! Because by the time she's that age, I can guarantee that the latest fashion will be a WHOLE lot skimpier and tighter than anything those two would even consider at this point!" Daniel told the Army captain honestly.

"Oh, MAN! I hadn't thought about that at ALL!" Capt. Lennox lamented.

"I'll be glad to loan you a crow bar or two if ya need it." Daniel told him with a grin.

"Crow bar NOTHING! I'm gonna be using that LRV you modified!" Capt. Lennox said seriously.

Both Daniel and General Mallory shook their heads with a chuckle, neither being able to blame the man.

That was when Daniel noticed Agent Bannacheck trying to get his attention by motioning him over. Daniel excused himself and went over to his boss.

"What's up, Boss Man?" Daniel asked candidly.

"Step outside with me for a minute." Agent Bannacheck told him. "Since, you're going to be doing repairs on any Autobots that might be injured, and Decepticon prisoners we might capture; I thought that you might need something that is more than able to get the job done. And since you LITERALLY buried your wrecker the other day. Well, we got you a couple of replacements." He continued as the two men stepped outside the hangar.

It was shaping up to be a hot day. The Nevada sun was already cranking the heat up to more then eighty degrees. Agent Bannacheck led Daniel around to the side of the hangar where there was still some shade.

There it was. Daniel's eyes bulged when he saw it. _No WAY!_ He thought. _There's no WAY he means THAT one!_

"There they are, and here's the keys. Just remember that they're still U.S. Government property if you ever decide to quit." Agent Bannacheck said with a cocky grin as he handed Daniel the keys.

The wrecker was any junkyard owner's dream machine. At a cost of more than one million dollars, the huge triple rear axle Kenworth heavy equipment transport had been modified with tool boxes along the sides, hydraulic outrigger jacks to allow for heavy lifting to one side or the other, and was able to tow ANYTHING that could be driven on a road! With a lifting capacity of more than seventy five tons; there wasn't much that couldn't be done with the wrecker.

High gloss Satin black accented in highly polished chrome, the rig had been equipped with every type of aftermarket running light that was available. Daniel's jaw was on the ground and scooping up the desert sand as he looked at the wrecker in silent admiration. It was a full two minutes before Daniel could do anything but stare.

When he finally recovered enough of his senses to actually walk around the wrecker to examine it closer, he discovered the second wrecker.

Just as huge as the first and nearly identical except for one small detail. This big monster was equipped with a flatbed! Daniel shook his head in disbelief. He knew immediately that this one had to be a custom order, but how in the hell had they gotten it built this fast! Almost big enough to haul Optimus in his standard mode, the wrecker was just amazingly huge.

Unable to believe his eyes or the fact that the rigs were actually his to use, Daniel walked back to where Agent Bannacheck was standing with a smirk on his face.

"Those are HUGE!" Daniel said stupidly stating the obvious with his right thumb pointing back over his shoulder at the two wreckers.

"Yes they are." Agent Bannacheck replied. "Just don't beat 'em up too much, those things aren't easily obtained you know." He said holding up his right index finger to emphasize his point.

"Uh, Yeah!" Daniel answered with a dumbstruck expression.

Then the two men reentered the hangar where they saw that only a few people still hadn't arrived. Daniel resumed his seat after getting a fourth cup of coffee, when Maigan came over and sat on his right.

"Are you in trouble again?" She demanded instantly.

"Not yet, at least not as far as I know, why?" Daniel asked confused.

"Because I saw the Top Nacho drag you outside! So I KNOW that something is up. Now you can either tell me now, or you can tell me later, but either way, if you ARE in trouble, then you're in for one HELL of an ass chewing." Maigan stated hotly.

General Mallory choked on his coffee as he struggled to keep from laughing at the salvage operator's expense. It wasn't easy and the officer failed miserably.

Daniel gave the General a hard look before turning back to his niece.

"What's up is that the Boss was just delivering my new toys." Daniel replied smugly as he pulled out the keys to the massive wreckers and started attaching them to his key ring.

"What kind of new toys?" Maigan promptly asked with a skeptic expression.

Daniel just gave a half grin and shook his head, knowing that the curiosity would drive his niece nuts.

"What KIND of new toys?" Maigan demanded more insistently.

"So, General. Tell me, do you need any help with that OTHER little project you mentioned? I'll admit that I've never worked with anything of that . . . nature before, but I'm pretty good at figuring things out." Daniel said as he turned towards the officer.

General Mallory stared at the salvage operator as if he'd lost what was left of his mind, while the man's niece was repeatedly punching him in the shoulder to get him to answer her.

Both men started laughing when the girl began using both fists to try to beat her uncle into submission. It was when she finally hit him in earnest that Daniel gave in.

"OWWW! Damn! Ok I give! Geez! I got a pair of new wreckers." Daniel finally told her while he rubbed his shoulder where she'd hit him.

"A PAIR of tow trucks?! You actually expect me to believe that he pulled you outside to give you a PAIR of tow trucks?" Maigan demanded doubtfully.

"It's the truth! Here, look at the keys!" Daniel told her as he handed her his keys.

"Uh huh and where's the actual wreckers?" Maigan asked smugly expecting her uncle to hand her some excuse.

"Go outside and head around the right side of the building." Daniel said simply.

That was the absolute LAST thing she expected her uncle to tell her. Maigan stared at her uncle with a blank expression for several seconds before she jumped up to go see for herself. Maigan knew that her uncle wouldn't lie about something, but he HAD been known to pull some pretty strange practical jokes.

It was a full ten minutes before Maigan came back inside with a stupefied expression on her face. She came over and sat back down to see her uncle looking at her with the smuggest looking smirk she'd ever seen.

"Well, did they really give him a pair of tow trucks?" General Mallory asked as he leaned forward to look past Daniel at Maigan.

"They're HUGE!" She answered in quiet awe.

"Well just what kind of tow trucks are we talking about here?" The General asked interestedly.

"Kenworths!" Daniel answered grinning like a kid in a candy store with no one around.

"Do you have ANY idea how expensive those things are?" General Mallory asked surprised.

"Considering that I own a junkyard; YEAH I have a REALLY good idea about how expensive those things are. But when you consider that Optimus over there turns into a Peterbuilt, then it's obvious that I'm gonna need something that big if he ever gets messed up." Daniel answered emphatically.

Daniel, Maigan and General Mallory continued to discuss the wreckers for some time. In one of the far corners of the hangar; Optimus was having a far different type of conversation. He, Starglide and Barricade were discussing the ex-Decepticon's plans for the future.

"**I haven't asked Barricade to join our cause, because I'm nearly certain that he would turn me down." ** Optimus told the femme.

"**You're right. I would turn you down."** Barricade interjected simply.

"**What?! Why would you not be willing to join the Autobots now that you know the truth of what REALLY happened that awful day?" **Starglide demanded in angry disbelief. **"Are you so attached to the Decepticon cause that you would turn on your own family even after your so called friends tried to kill you?" ** She continued in the same tone.

"**No. That's not it at all. I would be honored to fight along side my creator and her sibling, but I can not join the Autobots until I have repaid a debt that I'm not even sure CAN be repaid!" ** Barricade told his mother quietly in that deep voice of his.

"**Do not misunderstand. That human is a strange one, and we are bound to each other for the rest of our lives. I didn't ask for this bond, nor would I have accepted it if given a choice, but the two of us ARE bonded whether we like it or not."** Here Barricade couldn't help but give a dark chuckle. **"I must say that I am starting to like him though. To be as fragile as he is, he is still as fearless as any mech I have ever fought against or fought beside. He has a keen wit, and a type of cunning that would make him a match for ANY Decepticon he runs into. His only problem is that he does NOT know when it's time to back down. But, honestly; I hope that there are a few MORE humans like him, because if there are, then the Decepticons are in for a VERY hard time of things." **Barricade finished with a laugh that made the energon of the other two bots run cold.

Optimus had to reset his optics in surprise.

"**You mean to tell me that you actually plan to let Daniel go into battle against the Decepticons? Are your processors damaged?" **Optimus asked in disbelief.

Barricade had to laugh before he could respond. **"Not at all. Think about this; Ironhide has fought beside humans, so he knows just how . . . resourceful they can be, but he still underestimated Daniel, didn't he? As arrogant as they are, any Decepticon he runs into will dismiss him as a threat entirely!" **Barricade reasoned.

Optimus didn't say anything as he studied the former Decepticon thoughtfully. He knew that Barricade had a reputation as a tough and extremely deadly melee fighter, whose cunning and courage could never be questioned. The vicious mech had never been known for demonstrating a high level of intelligence however. Still, Optimus knew that Barricade was right; and the battle in Mission City had proved it. Any Decepticon that Daniel ran into WOULD dismiss him as a threat and concentrate their efforts on any Autobots in the area, which would leave Daniel, or any other human for that matter, free to act as needed.

Starglide was not so accepting of her creation's reasoning.

"**Optimus, he can't possibly be right in this! Human bodies are incredibly fragile compared to ours; even when compared to that of a sparkling. Are we now going to allow these humans to suffer and die for our war? I don't care how glitched or annoying he is, Daniel does NOT deserve to be killed simply because his death might serve a purpose. . . . ." **Starglide was saying when the Autobot leader interrupted her.

Optimus held up his hand asking her to wait while he gathered his thoughts.

"**I'm not saying anything of the kind. What I AM saying, is that humans have fought beside us, and while it is true that some of them fell during the battle, it is also true that we lost one of our own as well as the losses that the Decepticons suffered. Scorpinock, Frenzy, Blackout, and even Megatron himself fell at the hands of these fragile bodied humans. Further, it was a human child, sparkling in our terms that brought Megatron down. This is their world Starglide. Would you have me tell them that they are not allowed to defend it? The humans here have welcomed us, and while they have asked us to remain a secret, it is not because they do not wish others to know about us, but rather it is that their government has wisely decided that they, as a whole, are not ready for the changes that we, or even knowledge of our existence could bring to this world." **Optimus explained gently.

"**We will be able to make a home for ourselves on this world, and it's possible that with help from the humans, we may one day be able to return to Cybertron and restore it to some semblance of life. If that day ever comes, I will gladly welcome it, but until that day arrives we will live here among the humans while we protect and guide them into a better future. One that will hopefully be brighter for all of us." **Optimus continued.

"**Wait! Did you just tell me that a human CHILD killed Megatron?! I find the thought that our war has engulfed another race to be abhorrent, but to find that you have allowed their YOUNG to become involved in it is FAR worse! How could you possibly have allowed a CHILD to become involved in a WAR? I along with everyone else who has ever fought beside you have come to expect better than that from you, Optimus Prime!"** Starglide demanded angrily.

"**Optimus wasn't given a choice. The boy had the only key to the location of the All Spark, and every Decepticon was under orders to retrieve it by any means necessary." **Barricade piped up.

"**If I had been given a choice in the matter, this entire world would never have been involved. I will say, that I told Sam to place the cube in MY chest to destroy the All Spark and me along with it. I was ready to give my life so that this world and the humans that live here might be spared." **Optimus chuckled ruefully. **"But Sam had other ideas. He ran to Megatron instead. I thought he was going to hand the cube over to him, but he used it to destroy Megatron, instead of me. This war has left me little choice in many things, Starglide. The war itself is something I would have avoided if it were possible."** Optimus continued softly.

"**My apologies Optimus. I should have known that you would never endanger lives needlessly. It's just that my creationary programs keep insisting that these humans be protected and cared for as if they were sparklings. Logically I know they're not, but still."** The femme said quietly.

"**I know. Both my leadership programs and my own creation programs are insisting the same thing."** The Autobot leader said with a light smile.

Optimus was about to say more, but he didn't get the chance because Secretary of Defense John Robert Keller walked in at that moment.

"Is everybody here yet?" Sec Def Keller asked casually.

"You're late as usual, Boss Man!" Daniel yelled out jovially from across the hangar as he chugged away at a Java Russian.

Sec Def Keller walked over and gave the salvage operator a hard look.

"Now I thought you told me that Ratchet crushed the last one of those things you had. So where did you get that one?" He demanded with a hard look.

"That's easy! Maigan had Buzz Boy over there stash a bunch of 'em for us! Relax! This is only my second one today, so I'm not off to a very good start on these; I've usually had three to four by this time. The thing is, we don't have very many of to split between us, so I gotta go slow on 'em." Daniel replied with a grin.

"Are you gonna be startin anymore trouble with Ratchet over there?" Keller asked.

"I didn't start anything yesterday; HE did! He leaves my coffee alone, and I'll leave his head where it is. Otherwise, all bets are off, and I'll build a new BBQ Pit out of his metal skull!" Daniel said as his grin and friendly attitude vanished in an instant.

"Now see? There you go again with those damned threats! That's EXACTLY what I don't wanna have to deal with right now!" Sec Def Keller said irritably.

"Then don't tick me off by bringing it up." Daniel retorted.

Sec Def Keller let out a frustrated sigh of exasperation.

"Are we ready to get this meeting started? Is everyone here yet?" He asked as he looked around the hangar.

Six Autobots and one former Decepticon stepped towards the conference table. It wasn't actually one table, since there wasn't a single table on the planet that would be long enough to seat everyone. So there were several tables lined up end to end in the massive hangar. The humans involved at least were very glad that it was air conditioned.

Agent Simmons had shown up late the previous night. He'd had to bring several additional agents with him just in case Frenzy had tried anything during transport. Simmons hadn't been about to trust the spastic little bot as far as he could toss Optimus, but Keller had left specific instructions.

During the ride, Frenzy, Maggie, and Glen were using several laptops to create several false web pages that would only be accessed by someone who didn't have an IP address. The whole thing had been Glen's idea, and the trio was still at it at one end of the table. Sam had also been given a ride with the group, and was now sitting next to his girlfriend.

Everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to Frenzy when the little mech started laughing hysterically and spastically. Being about the only human who could understand the weird little mech, Daniel went over to him to see what was going on, but he wasn't the only one to be drawn towards the group.

"**Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Gee ockt! Tick, tick, tick. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Danger! Danger! Danger! Warning, Decepticons in trouble! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"** Frenzy was laughing and chattering away at high speed as he used all four of his hands to type away at his keyboard.

"Are you INSANE?! They're never going to believe that!" Maggie insisted when she saw what the mech was adding to the special server that Glen had set up.

"You wanna tell me what's going on over here, when we're trying to get things settled so we can get this show on the road?" Sec Def Keller asked when he got close to the little troop.

"He's. He's creating fake web pages and adding in fictional and make believe creatures as if they were real! And he's claiming that the Decepticons won't know the difference!" Maggie answered disgustedly.

"Well just what kind of critters is he putting on there?" Sec Def Keller asked curiously.

"Some kind of giant sand worms out of some book, and something called a gelatinous cube; whatever that is. And I don't even want to mention what ELSE he's put in there." Maggie exclaimed in frustration.

Sec Def Keller looked around the room with a strange expression.

"Is there someone that can tell me what these things are, and just WHY he's doing whatever it is that he's doing?" He asked the room at large.

"Well I'm not going to quote any facts on the sand worms until I find out which ones he's using, but I only know one kind of gelatinous cube, and that comes from Dungeons and Dragons." Sam answered.

At that point Sam realized that he was getting a lot of weird looks from several people in the hangar.

"Ok so I played it with Miles as a kid, big deal!" Sam burst out in response to the strange looks he was getting. "A gelatinous cube, well think of a three foot tall block of green jello that happens to be alive and only eats metal. They're drawn to it like termites to rotten wood. It's like candy to 'em. And for something as big as a Cybertronian." The young man gestured at the various bots in the hangar. "They'd come from miles to join in on the feast!" Sam finished.

"**Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Decepticons DINNER!"** Frenzy cackled maniacally while still typing away.

Each of the Autobots, and Barricade had hit the web looking up the beast in question, what they found REALLY disturbed them.

"**Do such creatures really exist?"** Optimus asked in obvious concern.

"No. Their just things that were made up for some stupid game that a bunch of geeks like to play." Sam told them.

There were a lot of surprised looks from the humans in the hangar as all of the Cybertronians visibly relaxed on hearing that. There were even some sounds that were suspiciously like sighs of relief.

Sec Def Keller rounded on Sam instantly.

"Why don't you tell me just what's so damned bad about a chunk of jello that would make THEM nervous?" Keller demanded insistently.

"Like I said; they eat metal. You can't hear 'em coming, and they can move pretty fast when they're hungry. Putting one of them near a gelatinous cube would be like smothering you in steak sauce and standing you in front of a cage full of hungry tigers." Sam explained with a bit more confidence.

Sec Def Keller turned to Glen who was grinning at what Frenzy was doing.

"And he's setting these things up so that the Decepticons will think they're REAL?" Keller demanded in disbelief.

"Oh yeah! He even changed the aliens so that they prefer creatures with a high metal content to use as a host for their chest busters, and put their natural habitat as the Laurentian abyss!" Glen replied enthusiastically.

"And you think this will work?" Keller asked doubtfully.

"Even if it doesn't, it won't hurt to try. It's not like anyone else will ever find these web pages, they'll only show up for someone that doesn't have an IP address, so no one else will ever have to worry about it." Glen explained excitedly.

"Hey, the kid's got a point! The best weapon is one you don't have to worry about. If that little website of his even works on one of 'em, then that's one less that we'll have to deal with." Capt. Lennox said quickly.

Much as he had when Megatron was melting during the Decepticon attack; Capt. Lennox trusted his instincts. A few days earlier, he'd taken one look at the situation and realized that Sam had somehow gained a lot of information about the alien robots. Information that could only have come from the robots themselves; which meant that he'd made peaceful contact with them. While no one else had even tried. All of this had flown through the officer's mind in an instant, when he made his decision to back Sam. Capt. Lennox had earned both the trust and respect of the men that followed his commands, and it was that trust in their CO that had caused them to back him without hesitation. Somehow, something was telling the army captain that this just might give them an edge when they needed it.

"Son, if you think this actually has a chance then that's good enough for me." Sec Def Keller said with a nod of his head.

At that point Optimus stepped forward.

"**I must ask if you will be able to issue an IP address for my Autobots to use so that they will not encounter this false information. I have some bots that might have what you would call a nervous breakdown over some of this information were they to believe it to be real."** The Autobot leader said with serious concern.

"**Oh sweet merciful Primus! I don't even want to THINK about how badly (untranslatable Cybertronian) would react to that! He'd never STOP glitching!"** Starglide said in horror.

"**Isn't THAT the slagging truth! He'd be trying to revamp this entire base's security to keep out creatures that don't even exist! And I'd be the one that would have to repair his burnt out circuits after he fries his processors!" **Ratchet grumbled angrily.

Daniel was been shaking his head with a skeptical expression on his face.

"**Dit. Dit. Dit, dit. Need more things!" **Frenzy sputtered.

"You want MORE stuff to put in there?!" Daniel demanded in shock.

Frenzy was nodding his head enthusiastically as his top left optic swiveled over to look at the salvage operator. Suddenly Frenzy froze as all four of his blue optics focused on Daniel, or more accurately, the Java Russian in his hand.

"**Fren. Fren. Fren-Frenzy have cof-coffee too?"** The chrome Decepticon asked hopefully in a soft voice.

Daniel froze for almost a minute as he thought it over. Finally, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a Java Russian. Daniel walked over and was about to hand it to the little mech when he paused.

"Go slow on this thing, cuz it's the last one I got!" Daniel warned the hacker as he handed the coffee to him.

Frenzy wasn't the only mech staring at Daniel in complete stunned silence. Ratchet too was also in shock.

"What about a ghost?" Glen asked breaking the strange silence.

Frenzy's attention snapped to the human hacker as he started typing with only two of his four hands. The other two being occupied with his coffee. Within a few seconds, suggestions started flying hard and fast as everyone started thinking about anything and everything that might possibly scare an alien robot.

Giant sand worms from Frank Herbert's Dune, gelatinous cubes, ghosts, gremlins, modified creatures from the Alien movies, poltergeists, and even demons went into the website. With one exception, every Cybertronian in the room was staring at the humans in complete surprise while the impromptu brainstorming session went on. Few of them could believe their audios at just how fast such disparate group could come together to work on a project. Several of the MP's who hadn't even been introduced to everyone got involved.

Fifteen minutes after he'd asked for suggestions, Frenzy had added nearly two hundred fictional creatures to his website. Complete with biographical backgrounds and realistic looking photos. The only exception to that was the basilisk that had been suggested.

It was another forty five minutes before the meeting actually began.

Once everyone was seated, on top of large steel shipping crates in the case of the Cybertronians, Sec Def Keller rapped his knuckles on the table to get everyone's attention.

"There's not really any diplomatic way to put this, so I'm just gonna say it outright. How do we know the Decepticons won't be back, and how do we know that these two wont join them when they do?" Keller demanded in a no nonsense tone.

Barricade stood up from the crate that he was sitting on and looked the Secretary of defense straight in his eyes.

"**I swear upon my honor and on the spark of Primus, that should the Decepticons return, that I will do everything in my power to defend both this world and those who live here, Autobot as well as human, and may the Matrix forever reject me should I violate this oath!"** Barricade said clearly so that everyone could hear him.

While Sec Def Keller was frowning doubtfully at the black and white mech, every Cybertronian in the room was staring at him in open mouthed shock.

Optimus knew all about the oath of Primus. The most sacred and binding oath any Cybertronian could make, and there was even a record of what had happened to a bot that had once violated the oath. The bots resultant death had been gruesome and terrible to behold as Primus made his wrath known to all. Optimus had heard of many bots being threatened with the oath but each time the bot had backed down being unwilling to swear it. Now, for the first time in his existence, he'd finally heard someone other than a Prime that had actually sworn to it!

"And you expect me to just take your promise on that?" Keller asked the black and white mech skeptically.

Barricade said nothing as almost every Autobot in the hangar instantly jumped to Barricade's defense.

"**Everyone, calm down and be quiet please! We cannot expect the humans to understand the severity of the oath Barricade just took. Give me a moment to explain it to them."** Optimus told his fellow Autobots sternly.

"Just how serious is it? Because they're acting like he just swore right in front of God himself or something." Sec Def Keller asked.

"**We have a record of what happened to one mech that violated this oath. I think it only fitting that you should see for yourselves what Barricade's fate will be should he break his vow." **Optimus replied.

As the hologram flickered into existence, everyone could clearly see a rather large black and green mech in the center of the projection.

{**"Fools! I lied when I swore the oath of Primus, so that I would be released. Now that I am free, nothing will stop me from taking control of this city, and making every last one of you into slaves for the foundation of my empire!" **The black and green mech bellowed triumphantly.

Suddenly an expression of agonized horror filled the mech's features as his metallic body began to crumble into dust. The sudden decay progressed rapidly across the mech's entire body in a matter of seconds. The agonized screams of pain filled terror could clearly be heard by everyone. The rapid decay continued until all that was left was the slowly fading glow from the spark chamber that was left sitting on the ground.}

The hangar was filled with a heavy silence as Optimus deactivated his holographic projector.

"**Just so you know, what happened to that mech defies all known Cybertronian medical science. There isn't any substance capable of destroying one of our frames that quickly."** Ratchet spoke up in a thoughtful tone.

Barricade only chuckled. **"Yes, I've seen that before. My creator over there showed it to me once, when she was teaching me about the concept of honor."**

"**You KNEW! You knew the consequences and you STILL swore that oath?!"** Bumblebee demanded in shock.

Barricade only nodded his head in reply.

"**According to him, that ain't the first time he's taken that oath."** Jazz spoke up quietly.

As everyone turned to look at the former Decepticon for confirmation of this, the black and white mech spoke up.

"**Jazz is correct. This is actually the third time I've sworn that oath! The first time was to avenge the deaths of my creators. The second time was to ensure that I would never endanger innocent lives in battle, and all of you witnessed my third oath to Primus."** Barricade said simply.

"Ok, so we got the wrath of the robotic god making sure that you live up to your word. What about him?" Sec Def Keller asked offhandedly.

"**Frenzy sw-swear to, to, to spark of Primus to too, and Ma- matrix reject me, me for breaking oath!"** Frenzy stated as clearly as he could.

Author's notes: I finally figured out what makes those pit blasted plot demons tick! Reviews! So Please, please, PLEASE click that button and leave a few thoughts on this chapter and the story so far.


	11. Chapter 11

ROH Chapter 11

_[Author's notes: As some of you have pointed out, there are lots of small details buried in the previous chapters that do give a few hints about future events or revelations. PLEASE; this is NOT my fault! Blame the plot demons! As proof, all I can offer is the fact that there is not one single note, outline, or even a general plot in existence! It comes straight out of my head, and goes straight into the chapter. They also seem to be on some kind of weird rampage and have me working on a few new stories as well, so please, feed the plot demons the type of food they crave, submit a review and GRIPE at them.]_

Everyone in the hangar was staring at Frenzy in open mouthed astonishment. The silence grew thick and heavy as no one could really believe that the spastic little mech had just put his life on the line. It was more than a full minute before anyone spoke.

"**Slag me for worthless scrap! (Untranslatable Cybertronian) is going to KILL me! SLOWLY!" **Barricade growled disgustedly.

"Who is, whatever you said, and why would they kill you because he made a promise?" Sec Def Keller asked confused with a gesture at Frenzy.

"**That would be Frenzy's creator. Frenzy is what you would call a Cassetticon; he has a bond with both the other Cassetticons that were also made by his creator as well as a bond with his creator. It's difficult to explain, but they are like spark mates and siblings at the same time. The death or even injury of one of them affects the others as well." **Ratchet explained. **"Quite frankly, I'm surprised that he even lets those slaggers out of his sight. How the pit did you manage to get him to let you bring Frenzy along on this mission anyway?"**

"**That would be because of Megatron's orders. That and I DID promise to try my best to keep him safe."** Barricade answered ruefully.

"**BarriBarriBarricade g, g, g, good partner! Not say 'Shut the s, s, s, slag up!' all the t, t, time!" **Frenzy chortled happily as he went back to his website modifications.

"**Of course not! I already knew that it wouldn't do any slagging good anyway; so I just deactivated my audio receptors while you rambled." **Barricade said with an evil smirk.

Frenzy began sputtering indignantly until he realized that Barricade had let him do his own thing without complaint. That was when the spastic little mech started giggling madly.

Everyone was watching the little mech, and several of the humans were obviously about to ask about it when Barricade cut them short.

"**Don't ask, because you don't want to know! That weird little mech will talk you in to a permanent stasis lock!"** Barricade warned irritably.

Frenzy cocked his top right optic over at Barricade, but didn't say anything as he happily went back to his various websites.

Sec Def Keller cleared his throat to regain everyone's attention.

"Okay, now that we've got one concern cleared up. Let's move on to the next problem. Just where in the blazes are we gonna put that ship of theirs, and how are we gonna hide it?" Sec Def Keller asked the group in general.

"I might have a solution to both of those problems, but first, I need to know if that ship is less than seven hundred and twenty-one feet wide." General Mallory said as he stood up.

"**It is actually six hundred thirteen point two feet wide; why do you ask?" **Optimus countered.

"Because this base actually has seven airstrips, even though we've never used the seventh one, because it's hidden underground. That longest airstrip out there ain't quite long enough to land the space shuttle on, but there's a good reason that it extends almost the full length of this valley. That's because it's built in sections five feet wide and more than one hundred feet thick that can be retracted to reveal another airstrip several hundred feet down that would remain completely undamaged by a nuclear attack. THAT is the seventh airstrip, and I think it would be an almost perfect parking spot for that space ship of yours." General Mallory stated proudly, and smugly.

Daniel was staring at the Air Force General as if the man was crazier than he was, so was everyone else for that matter.

"What, you got like some kind of super sized garage door opener or something?" Sam asked in a cocky tone.

"Not quite, son. More like nearly two hundred miles of anchor chain from an aircraft carrier, massive ratcheting hydraulics to pull those chains, and a lot more heavy equipment that happens to be classified." The General answered with a smug grin.

"Shit!" Daniel growled out. "That'd be something I'd like to see in action."

"Same here! Haven't had a chance to try it out since I took command of this base, but it looks like I'm gonna get that chance after all." General Mallory shot back with a mischievous grin.

"So, they can really land that thing right here, then?" Sec Def Keller asked in disbelief.

"See! I told you man! Area 51, Hangar 18! If you're gonna land a spaceship, then THIS is where ya gotta park it!" Glen exclaimed excitedly as he was proven right all over again.

"Awww crap! We're never gonna hear the end of that." Daniel complained under his breath as he went to grab another cup of caffeinated syrup.

The salvage operator froze when he saw half a dozen agents wheeling in dollies loaded with cases of his favorite beverage.

Daniel immediately walked over to get one, but was waved away.

"These were brought in for Frenzy, and YOU are not to touch even so much as ONE of them!" The agent said flatly as he placed his hand on the but of his sidearm.

Daniel stared at the agent in stark disbelief. The agents had rolled the dollies in and unloaded them before heading back out for a second trip, before Daniel could gather his wits about him.

The salvage operator nodded to himself and stood there waiting for the agents to come back in with the second load.

"**Don't try it, you little slagger! I am NOT getting involved!"** Barricade warned from across the hangar.

"**Oh Primus in a pit!"** Ratchet growled as he looked over the situation.

No one except Maigan expected what happened next, as the salvage operator turned on his heel and stormed back over to the coffee urn. Daniel was truly pissed about the situation, but there were a few things that he hated, liars and thieves being among the top five. He was not about to just mug someone over a can of coffee.

Daniel finished fixing his coffee and turned around to look at his most senior boss.

"Is there any other problems that need to be dealt with?" Daniel asked in a near growl.

"None that I'm aware of why?" Sec Def Keller replied.

"Good! Now what papers do I need to get back in here after I leave?" Daniel demanded in the same tone.

"You and everyone else got added to the gate list last night, so your current ID badge will get you back in." Col Anderson stated.

Daniel didn't say anything in reply, but instead walked over to where the Autobots were still seated comfortably.

"Yo Tackleberry! Would you mind giving me a lift while I go pick up some supplies?" Daniel asked looking up at the large black mech.

This not being what Ironhide had come to expect from the deranged human, Ironhide had to replay the request in his processors a few times before he could answer.

"**Uh, sure."** Ironhide answered in surprise.

"**Well if the two of you are going then I am most certainly coming along!"** Barricade interrupted.

"**Why do you need to come? What, ya think I'm going to terminate him or something?" **Ironhide asked sourly.

"**Nope! But I just swore an oath to protect the humans of this world from all Cybertronian threats, since he is now my spark brother; that includes protecting the rest of this planet from HIM!"** Barricade stated while pointing straight at Daniel.

Ironhide was chuckling at that and so was Barricade. Barricade's laughter was cut short however when Daniel kicked him in the ankle, right on one of his hydraulic lines with his steel toed boots.

"**You Primus damned pit fragging little glitch! What the slag was that for?"** Barricade bellowed in pain as he hopped on one foot.

"That was for mocking me damnit!" Daniel retorted as he too hopped around.

"**Is there some unwritten law of Primus which says that siblings HAVE to squabble like this?"** Starglide asked Optimus as she turned to face him.

Optimus grabbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head in exasperation.

At that point Maigan walked over and whapped her uncle in the back of his head.

"**Hey! What was that for?"** Both Daniel and Barricade demanded in unison.

"Awww, CRAP! I'm sorry that you had to feel that Barricade, but HE deserved it!" Maigan apologized sweetly.

"Hey I just realized. If Daniel and Barricade are brothers now; doesn't that make Barricade my uncle, Ironhide my great uncle, and you kind of like my grand mother?" Maigan asked Starglide in a tone that said she was weirded out by the whole concept.

Starglide chuckled merrily as she reached down and picked the young female up.

"**Of course it does dear, but you must understand that while I for one am happy to add you to my family, it also means that we are, unfortunately, related to these three, and I do SINCERELY apologize for that."** Starglide said kindly as she indicated the two spark brothers and her own sibling.

Maigan burst out laughing as the three began sputtering their protests.

"Uh huh! Looks like I'm not the only one to notice that poor girl's plight!" Sec Def Keller said to himself but loud enough to make sure Daniel heard it.

"Damnit Boss! You stay out of this! I'm out numbered enough as it is!" Daniel complained in a grouchy tone that belied the grin on his face.

Almost everyone else in the hangar was laughing at the expense of the salvage operator and the two mechs. One of the exceptions to this was General Mallory who was appraising the salvage operator shrewdly.

"So you two ready to go?" Daniel asked as everyone finally stopped laughing at his expense.

"Uncle Daniel would you mind bringing me back some Monsters?" Maigan asked hopefully as she looked down from her perch in Starglide's hand.

Daniel looked up at his niece for a minute before he shook his head.

"I got a better idea. Why don't you come along for the ride, since I'll be swinging by the yard to pick up a few things; we can grab you some more clothes while we're at it. Because if you think for one second that I'm going to try figuring out what clothes you want, or what you like to wear; you'd have to be at least half as crazy as I am." Daniel told her.

A slow sly grin creeped across Maigan's face as she realized the potential of this trip. She glanced over at Mikeala and the two exchanged a meaningful look, and a grin.

"Please Uncle 'Hide can I ride with you?" Maigan asked in the sweetest tone she could manage.

"**Humph! Better you than him!"** Ironhide said with a pointed glance at Daniel.

Maigan whooped happily as Starglide set her down.

As Maigan was gathering her purse and getting ready to go, a subtle motion from Jazz caught Ironhide's attention. The two mechs exchanged a look that no one else caught but would not have needed a translation if they had. Clearly Jazz was taking his debt to Daniel seriously enough that even Ironhide wasn't going to call him on it. Ironhide nodded his head to acknowledge the unspoken threat, and to promise to take care of the young woman that would be entrusted to him.

"**So, where are we going?"** Ironhide asked Daniel curiously.

"We're gonna swing by Hoover Dam and pick up our things from there, then head on back to my yard, so that I can pick up some tools, equipment, clothes, supplies, and a few provisions." Daniel said with a pointed glance at the agents that had brought in Frenzy's coffee supplies.

"Is there some reason why you can't use the tools and equipment we have here?" General Mallory asked wondering if perhaps the man was somehow maligning his base.

"Huh! Not really, but I do have a few things that you don't have because they're modified tools I made myself, and as for the rest, I still need some clothes, smokes, drinks, and a few OTHER things!" Daniel replied with a malevolent smile.

"Well, according to the instructions I've received, both you and everyone else assigned to work with them, are to be assigned a set of quarters for you to use." General Mallory replied with a nod in the direction of the Autobots.

"In that case just make sure of a few things for me. One that my niece's quarters are close to mine. (This got an indignant huff from Maigan.) Two; that both of our quarters are close to whatever area is going to be used as a repair bay for the Autobots, and three, that there is some kind of spare room for me to use as a workshop for tinkering around with shit, sometimes dangerous shit." Daniel finished with a grin.

"Just what do you mean by dangerous shit?" The General demanded as his eyes narrowed.

"Sometimes I like to experiment with shit for the fun of it. On certain rare occasions I enjoy building things like potato guns." Daniel said with relish.

"I catch you building a damned potato gun and firing that thing off inside my base, and I don't give a damn if you're the damned President; your ass WILL be in the brig!" General Mallory snarled.

"Wouldn't dream of using it inside! Besides, ain't any way that I could get a bead on 'Ol Bones over there without him knowin about it." Daniel shot back with a grin and a wink.

"**I heard that you little slagger! Keep on, and you'll find yourself restrained until both your caffeine and nicotine addictions are long past over and done with!" **Ratchet bellowed from across the hangar.

"Didn't you learn yesterday that you can't beat one of those guys in a fight? They're several times your height, and their weight advantage is measured in TONS!" General Mallory demanded in exasperation.

"Not yet. Ain't had a fight that ain't been interfered with by someone else, but sooner or later, one's gonna go down, and everybody will finally learn not to annoy the crazy person. I know one thing though; I was gettin' the best of the first fight I got into thanks to that crowbar of mine." Daniel said simply.

General Mallory shook his head in disgust at the salvage operator.

"Hey speaking of which. Where the hell are my crowbars?" Daniel asked suspiciously.

"**I have them, and you are not getting them back until you learn some slagging manners!"** Ratchet bellowed at the junk yard owner.

Daniel narrowed his eyes as turned to glare at the medic. Then he flashed a grin and nodded his head.

"Ok, I can see right now that it's gonna be an 'everybody piss off Daniel' kind of day. Well, if that's the way y'all wanna play it; I got something for ya!" Daniel stated maliciously.

The salvage operator had turned to head over to the wall to get his ice chest, which was sitting not too far from the hangar doors, when he heard a voice behind him.

"**Beanbeanbeanbean Juice! G. G. G. Good Stuff!"** Frenzy sputtered happily.

Daniel turned around to see what the little mech was babbling about now and saw that Frenzy was holding out three of his hands with a different flavor of Java monster in each one, while his fourth hand was feeding his own coffee cravings.

Realizing that the strange little mech was offering, Daniel reached out and selected the Russian with a grin.

"Thanks Buddy! At least SOMEONE around here knows how to fuckin share!" Daniel stated with a pointed glance at the former Sector Seven agents that had brought the stuff in.

"If he wants to give you one, that's up to him. Otherwise hands OFF!" The senior agent shot back ominously.

The salvage operator downed a good fourth of the can as he went over to grab his empty ice chest, before turning to look back at Barricade and Ironhide.

"Y'all ready? If so, let's get the lead out! I got places to go and things to do, besides, we got a ship comin' in, and we better be ready for it." Daniel said in a much happier tone.

There was a bit of grumbling from Ironhide as he transformed. Barricade didn't say anything, but the look in his optics showed that he wasn't going to be happy today.

Maigan happily climbed up in the cab of the black truck, and her delighted smile could easily be seen by everyone in the hangar as she got behind the wheel of the massive truck.

The small group left Nellis without any problems, but pulled into the first convenience store they found.

After checking his balance, Daniel was happily surprised to find that the Government had not only covered his overdraft, but had also dropped in a sizable amount of spending money.

Another Styrofoam ice chest was bought along with drinks for Maigan, and Daniel cleared out the racks of nearly every java Monster they had in stock, and several of the double sized Full Throttles. Daniel was about to turn away from the cooler when he spotted something new. On impulse he grabbed a few cans of something called Monster Hammer, thinking that if their coffee was good, their espresso had to be even better.

They were making pretty good time as they headed back to the Hoover Dam complex. Maigan had successfully cajoled Ironhide into letting her drive, and was now in the process of trying to sweet talk him into taking her and Mikeala mudding.

Daniel was playing one CD after another while Barricade did the driving. Daniel knew that the modified Mustang was in some kind of a funk, but he didn't realize just how far into it the former Decepticon was until after he'd played an entire CD of Polka music that even got on his nerves without a single protest from the mech.

Daniel thumped his fist lightly on the dashboard to make sure he had the mech's attention.

"Spit it out, dude!" Daniel ordered.

"**Spit what out, and don't hit me again."** Barricade said irritably.

"Whatever the hell's eatin at ya, and don't try to bullshit me and say there ain't nothin; cuz that was the weakest damned response I've gotten out of you yet." Daniel retorted.

"**You would not begin to understand the complexities of my problems, human."** Barricade growled.

"Try me!" Daniel dared.

Barricade knew that the human he was bonded with, would be annoyingly persistent, and wasn't one to quit until he got what he wanted.

"**Fine! You want to know what my problem is? I'll tell you. How do I make amends for accusing Ironhide of killing my creators?"** Barricade snarled.

"Oh, is that all? Bah! That ain't much of a problem. You tell him you're sorry, otherwise, you can't make amends for something like that, but you do have to put it in perspective." Daniel replied candidly.

"**What do you mean by that?" **Barricade countered.

"Simple. If you think you feel like shit over accusing him of killing your parents, think about how you'd feel if you'd found out about all of this AFTER you'd actually killed him for it." Daniel answered bluntly.

Tires squealed as Barricade stalled out from shock as he thought of the implications of what Daniel had just said.

"**Slag me for scrap! That's exactly what might have happened! If things had gone just a little differently I WOULD have killed him!" **Barricade snarled in surprise.

"Exactly, so you got to try to find a way to let that part of the past die and move on. Talk to him one day when you get a chance." Daniel told him.

"**I will, and thanks." **Barricade replied.

"You're welcome, and don't you go gettin soft on me now, you ugly chunk of scrap!" Daniel stated with a grin.

"**Wouldn't dream of it, you rotten little flesh bag!"** Barricade shot back instantly.

The remaining two hours of the trip to Hoover Dam was made in relative silence. The exception was Barricade's CD player, which Daniel was putting to use non-stop. As the salvage operator reached for another drink, the Monster Hammer caught his eye. He hadn't tried one of them yet, so now was as good a time as any.

Grabbing the small can and cracking it open, Daniel had half the can swallowed before the flavor really hit him. Instantly, the psychotic salvage operator was pulling the can away from his face, wiping his mouth and gagging.

"**What's wrong crunchy? I thought you liked caffeine?" **Barricade taunted.

"Yeah, but that shit is BEYOND nasty! I'll give the rest of 'em to Frenzy and see if he likes those damned things, cuz I sure as hell ain't gonna drink 'em!" Daniel answered irritably.

"**Oh! So you plan on making Frenzy purge his tanks with that stuff instead?"** Barricade retorted as the two rolled up to the security gate at the Hoover Dam complex.

"I didn't say that! And don't you put fuckin words in my mouth! I said I'd see if he likes 'em. If he don't, then anyone that DOES like 'em, can fuggin HAVE 'em! Otherwise, they go in the fuggin trash!" Daniel clarified angrily as he was still trying to get a grip on his rebelling stomach.

Barricade snickered happily as he watched Daniel try to rant while still gagging from the awful flavor of the stuff he'd ingested. **"Perhaps you should try some more. Who knows; the taste might grow on you."** The Former Decepticon suggested evilly.

The mere thought of trying that stuff again had Daniel gagging harder than ever, and he began kicking the underside of the dash to take his revenge since he couldn't talk at that point.

"**OW! Stop kicking me you rotten slagger! It was only a suggestion! Besides; it might be an acquired taste."** Barricade bellowed after being kicked four times in quick succession.

"Shut up!" Daniel finally managed to get out in between retches of his stomach.

"**Oh come on! Surely you can try it just one more time."** Barricade teased with another loud snicker.

With that comment Daniel's stomach clenched hard enough to hurt, and if he had to be in pain, then he was going to make sure that he didn't suffer alone. Hauling his right foot out from under the dash, near the pedals; Daniel hauled off and kicked the radio with the heel of his boot.

The instant he'd made that comment; Barricade knew that he'd made a mistake when it felt like the pit of his tank was being crushed by his own internal systems. He wasn't a bit surprised when the human lashed out at the cause of that particular pain. Truth be told; if someone had told him something disgusting enough to nearly make him purge in such a painful fashion, Barricade knew that he'd have their spark for some type of ornamentation.

The pain that Barricade was getting in his tanks was pretty intense. That combined with what the demented little man had just done, had the mech swerving all over the road leading to the gates of the Hoover Dam complex.

Ahead of them, Ironhide couldn't help but notice the erratic driving, and he slowed down to see what was going on. A quick scan of the former Decepticon told the weapon specialist all he needed to know. Ironhide slowed down to pace the interceptor, even as he opened a com channel to the cruiser.

"**What are you worthless slaggers fighting about now? Don't make me pull over and separate you two!"** Ironhide warned loudly.

Barricade went silent at the threat. The front line shock trooper couldn't believe his audios. For his part, Daniel was startled by the warning, and without Barricade teasing him and reminding him of the horrible taste he'd gotten, he was finally able to gain control of his rebelling stomach.

"**You stay out of this! This is between me and the flesh wad!"** Barricade sent back quickly.

"I know he didn't just say that!" Daniel finally burst out.

"Oh, yes he did!" Maigan called out over the open com line, laughing merrily.

"You stay out of this, Kiddo! Cuz he's in a world of trouble for that one!" Daniel snapped at his niece.

"Oh no he isn't! If you two don't straighten up; I'm gonna have Uncle Hide call Starglide!" Maigan threatened.

"Damned meddling females." Daniel grumbled under his breath after letting out a snarl of frustration.

"**I couldn't agree more!"** Barricade growled. **"Why do they always have to spoil things just when it's starting to get fun?"**

"Damn if I know. All I know is; you can't live with 'em, and you DAMNED sure can't kill 'em!" Daniel griped sourly.

"**Now THAT is the slagging truth!"** Barricade agreed readily.

"You won't have to worry about it after we get back to the base, because I'm DEFINITELY telling Starglide about THAT little comment!" Maigan called out over the still open com line.

"Turn off the fuckin radio; ya goddamned scrap heap!" Daniel bellowed as soon as his niece finished her threat.

Ironhide's roaring laughter was cut off as Barricade finally cut the connection and the line of communication with a snarl of disgust.

"**We are going to be so slagged when we get back."** Barricade said quietly as he came to a stop at the gate.

"Yeah. No shit, Sherlock! We're gonna be screwed, blued, and tattooed." Daniel griped as he handed over his ID to the gate guard.

The gate guard passed the unlikely pair through the gate. Barricade had just gotten inside the Dam itself when his comm system received a ping from an unidentifiable source. Curious, the former Decepticon opened the channel.

"**You two may think you've gotten away with your little round of mischief, but I can easily assure you that you WILL find a world of trouble upon your return to this base, and don't think for one split second that I won't make both of your lives miserable, because I can and I WILL! Please, just PLEASE let me hear of you two bickering one more time and see what happens!"** Starglide stated coldly.

Blood and energon both turned to ice in the veins and lines of the two spark brothers as they listened to the complete sincerity in the femme's tone and voice.

"**Daniel, I don't care if you ARE an adult by human standards, you are living and dealing with us now, so if you want to continue being treated as an adult then you WILL act like one! Otherwise I will treat you like the tiny little infant that you appear to be. Especially with the way you act. Barricade, YOU know better! I know for a fact that I raised you better than this, and if you think that just because you are considered an adult now, that you are beyond my authority, you will find out very quickly that I helped bring you into this universe and I can remove you from it as well. You two now share a bond, and whether you like it or not, your lives are intertwined, and that means that the actions of one will affect the other. There will be NO more bickering between you two, or I will deal with BOTH of you! And I don't want to hear any more profanity out of either of you when either I or Maigan is around. You WILL begin showing some respect whether you want to or not! Have I made myself clear?"** Starglide demanded in a cold tone that would have frozen the spark of Unicron himself.

"Dude! Do you think she's serious?" Daniel quipped as his attitude and mouth once again got the better of him.

_**Oh SLAG! She's going to kill us!**_ Barricade thought in shock when he heard Daniel's comment.

"**Oh you'd better believe I'm serious. I'll lock you in a room small enough that you'll barely be able to move around, and I'll make absolutely certain that you have none of your caffeine or nicotine available. I'll leave you in that room for an entire year, and then I'll see about the POSSIBILITY of letting you out. Do I make myself clear?"** Starglide said in a very sweet tone that belied the deadly ice beneath it.

Barricade experienced a thrill of fear at his creator's words, and he would have been perfectly happy to abide by her instructions, but the cold deadly rage that he felt in his human spark brother frightened him just as much as his own creator's wrath. He couldn't believe how fast this human went from being amused by the warning to being so fragged off by it, that he was ready to kill. It had happened in an instant, and it was very disturbing.

"Listen Lady. I don't take kindly to threats at ALL! You may be Barricade's mother, and you may be able to dictate his life, but you do NOT dictate mine! NO one does! I refuse to let ANYONE dictate the way I live my life, and that includes you or anyone else that thinks they have that right, because I got news for you; you DON'T! Now do _I_ make myself clear?" Daniel retorted in a low dangerous tone.

"**Oh perfectly. But, I still think this little matter should wait until you get back so we can discuss this issue in person. Because like it or not, you and I have quite a few issues to go over. So as I said, we'll discuss this when you return."** Starglide said in that same sweet tone as she cut the line of communication.

Barricade said nothing as he rolled to a stop behind Ironhide in what been used as a med bay. He could feel the anger radiating off the salvage operator in waves. He knew that he'd seen and felt the weird little being far angrier than he was now, but it was the speed with which the human made the transition was what was so disturbing.

Daniel gaped as he stepped out of the police styled enforcer. As he looked around the stone walled chamber, he saw that nearly everything had been packed up as a literal army of agents got ready to move their head quarters to Nellis Air Force base. He went from being angry to amazed in an instant. The various tables and platforms that he'd used only the day before were now gone. The work bench, his tools, and even his truck box had all been removed from the chamber.

"Wow! It's like none of them were ever here." Maigan said quietly.

"No shit! When these guys decide to pack up and move out, they don't play any games." Daniel muttered as he kept looking around.

Shelves, tables, scaffolding and tools. Everything had been removed from the now completely empty room. He looked around as slow smile crept across the junk yard owner's face.

"HEY!" Daniel shouted at the top of his lungs as he listened to the multitude of echoes that thundered around the room for nearly a full minute. As he listened to the echoes bouncing off the walls of the chamber, the salvage operator was looking up at the ceiling and staring at it intently.

"What are looking at?" Maigan asked curiously.

"The ceiling. The blast mark where I shot it yesterday is even gone." Daniel stated with a frown.

"We got a call with instructions to clear the place out. So we're going to make sure that it will look like we were never here. From here on out, these rooms are nothing more than a means of future expansion for Hoover Dam." Said a voice behind them.

Maigan looked over as Daniel turned around to see one of the staff members from Agent Bannacheck's group.

"So where's all our stuff?" Daniel demanded quickly.

"That's all been loaded onto trucks and is headed for Nellis as we speak. That includes everything from the room you were using as quarters. In another five hours, we will have completely removed any sign or trace that Sector Seven was ever here." The Agent said proudly.

A surprised expression was on his face as Daniel turned to face the others. "Well, I guess the only thing left to do now is head over to the yard and grab what we need from there."

"Sounds good to me. Are you going to BBQ while we're there?" Maigan asked hopefully.

Daniel frowned thoughtfully as he looked at his niece and thought the question over. Then a sly grin crept across his features as an idea popped into his head.

"No. But I'll tell ya what I'll do. We'll stop by the store and pick up some stuff. Then when we get to the yard, I'll set up the pit, get it fired up, and load it up with seven or eight different kinds. You and Tackleberry can haul that back to Nellis while I finish up at the yard, and then when I get back to the base, we'll all have an all out BBQ. How does that sound?" Daniel asked her with a grin still plastered on his face.

Maigan's eyes lit up and her entire demeanor changed in an instant as she brightened right away. She whooped with glee, gave a small hop of excitement, and was nearly as happy as a kid in a candy store with a pocket full of money.

"Awesome! I've been looking forward to that BBQ since I went home at the end of last summer." She exclaimed happily.

"Well then, let's load up and head out. The sooner we get started, the sooner we can eat." Daniel answered with a grin.

"That wouldn't be Texas BBQ would it?" The Agent asked casually, not trying to interrupt.

"Oh yeah! And he'll make a brisket so tender it'll fall apart on a fork." Maigan said grinning widely.

"Really? That sounds pretty good." The Agent said easily.

"Well then stop on by the base tomorrow and I'll have a plate for you." Daniel replied. "In the meantime we got a bunch of stuff to do, so we'll catch up with you later." He continued as he got back into the former Decepticon.

_Author's notes. I would like to express my deepest and most sincere apologies for not updating sooner! I will freely admit that I was stuck as far as what to do, and where to go with a certain scene in this chapter. Therefore, I would like everyone to say thanks to Vader's Bane for helping me out._

_PS. The next chapter is in progress and will __**hopefully**__ be out much sooner than this one was, again sorry for the wait._


	12. Chapter 12

ROH Chapter 12

As Maigan sat in the driver's seat of the huge black truck known as Ironhide, her thoughts kept wandering back to her uncle's promise to fix a BBQ. She didn't care for his attempts at grilling too much, but if he decided to smoke something over a mesquite fire? Oh yeah. She knew it was going to be good. She knew that Daniel was only good at grilling a very few things, so much to her disappointment, that was something he kept trying to do. Even as she watched, her uncle came out of the store with a basket full of plastic grocery bags, and she knew right away that all of them were full of high quality meats.

Daniel was humming quite happily to himself as he transferred the load of meat from the shopping cart to the trunk of the former Decepticon. He didn't care that he was humming off key, considering the mood he was in; there wasn't much that would bother him at that point. His niece wanted a BBQ, and that's exactly what he planned to give her. He had gotten a rather fun idea for something to do while throwing this BBQ and that idea was what had put him in such a good mood.

He finished loading the trunk and climbed in the police styled Mustang, and Barricade immediately started his engine. Daniel reveled in the looks he got when Barricade revved his engine and that loud rumbling exhaust quickly got everyone's attention. Suddenly heads were turning another direction as Ironhide revved his engine in response.

There was a look of disbelief on Daniel's face as he looked over at the large black Topkick parked a few spots over. His foot hit the accelerator in an almost instinctive reaction as he responded to the challenge. When the massive engine of the Topkick revved louder, he goosed the gas pedal again. Barricade responded with a deep throated rumble that would have made a NASCAR mechanic turn green with envy.

Ironhide heard his nephew's engine reverberate through the parking lot, and would have grinned if he'd been in standard mode. He made sure that the noise of his exhaust was at least a good fifteen decibels louder than that of the former Decepticon. When Barricade revved his engine even louder, he decided to pull out the stops. The windows of the store began to vibrate in their frames and car alarms began to go off around him as the harmonic rumble of his exhaust set them off.

Barricade found himself wishing that there weren't any other humans around so he could switch to his other engine. Ironhide had set off every car alarm for a dozen yards, but that wasn't going to be good enough to win. Barricade let it all go as he blasted his exhaust out through his tail pipes, and suddenly every car alarm in the parking lot was going off as the sonic vibrations of his exhaust set them off.

People and customers were emerging from the store to see what had set off the alarms on their cars. When they saw the causes of the problem, they weren't happy at all. Those who had been standing outside and watching this strange competition were now holding their hands over their ears in a vain attempt to save their hearing. Even though she was enjoying this little round of competition, Maigan was smart enough to realize that their time for fun was over when she spotted one of the irate customers pull out a cell phone to make a call in spite of all the noise from the two mechs.

"Hey! We've got to go! Someone's calling the cops because of what you guys are doing. Now come on, and let's get out of here." Maigan burst out in a near panic.

Ironhide was about to stubbornly continue the game of noise, when he realized that Maigan WAS beginning to panic. Unwanted, unwelcome, and unbidden, the image of Jazz delivering his silent warning rose up in his processors, and Ironhide knew that he had to discontinue his little game with his nephew and get Maigan out of the area.

The knowledge that he had to place the safety and well being of Maigan above his own wants or enjoyments irked him greatly. However, it didn't matter how irritated he was at the situation; he had a very clear memory of Jazz making a promise to protect Maigan, and a second memory of Jazz warning him about the girl's safety. Ironhide did NOT want to find out what Jazz would do if the girl were to be placed in jail because of Ironhide's actions. Putting his transmission in reverse, Ironhide backed out of the parking spot quickly.

"**You two may want to vacate the area. One of the humans is attempting to summon their authorities."** Ironhide sent over his com system.

"The broad's calling the cops! So let's get while we can!" Maigan yelled loudly.

Daniel grabbed the short throw shifter to Barricade's transmission, and as before he didn't even bother to give the customization of it a second glance. Shifting into reverse, Daniel laid rubber amidst a truly impressive cloud of smoke that completely destroyed any chance of reading the license plates on the vehicle he was in. He left the parking lot fairly fast, but even so, he still found himself staring at the Autobot insignia on Ironhide's tailgate.

Not needing any directions to the place since he'd been there before, Ironhide made a few turns down some side streets before heading towards the southern outskirts of Mission City where Daniel's salvage yard was located. He moved to the side to allow the Saleen Mustang into the lead since Daniel would need to open the gate. Ironhide remembered the security precautions on the perimeter of the salvage yard, and while his frame could easily handle that much electricity, the human passenger in his driver's seat most certainly couldn't.

He turned down the volume on the music that he'd been playing for Maigan to calm her down after she'd panicked. It didn't take long for Daniel to shut down the power and open the gate. He waved both Ironhide, and Barricade through before he closed the gate again.

"I'm just gonna leave the power off until I leave, 'cuz I've got a lot of things to do here before I return to the base, so you two will probably head out a couple of hours before I do." Daniel told them as they passed through the gate.

Daniel got back into Barricade's driver seat and followed Ironhide down the winding backtracking trail of pea gravel that led to the shop at the center of his salvage yard. When the two mechs stopped in front of the shop, Daniel got out and looked around quickly. His eyes scanned the yard slowly and thoroughly as he looked around.

"**What are you looking for now?"** Ironhide asked out of curiosity.

Maigan snickered. "He's looking for anything out of place or missing. And believe it or not, he'd actually notice something missing. He knows what he has, and he usually knows where it is too. Me? I wouldn't be able to find ANYTHING in this mess even if I knew where to look for it!" She told them bluntly.

Both mechs would have frowned as they took in the haphazard piles of stuff strewn everywhere.

"This is NOT a mess! It's an ordered chaos! It's like this so I can find what I want but no one else can." Daniel said in a smug tone.

"No. It's worse than a mess; it's a freaking disaster area. THAT'S why it's called a JUNKYARD!" Maigan retorted.

"**My question is; if this is a junkyard, then why are you so defensive of it? I would almost swear that some of these fortifications are deliberate."** Ironhide asked curiously.

Daniel gave the truck an odd look before he answered. "First of all. EVERYTHING is deliberate! The electric fence is just the first problem. After that, there's the pea gravel to get past, and you can't without making some kind of noise, and letting me know that you're coming. Then there are the scrap piles. Unless you want to try climbing over one of those unstable piles, you have to follow the trail, and I'll know EXACTLY what direction you're coming from! And just in case someone IS stupid enough to try climbing one of those piles, well, they're stacked so that everything will come down on top of who ever tries it. After that, you got the wolf..." Here Daniel paused and shook his head. "HAD the wolf. He loved a human chew toy! He'd chew a trespasser to pieces, and with him being deaf, there was no way that he could hear anyone try to call him off. After that... they had to deal with me, and by that time, I DAMNED sure wasn't inclined to invite 'em in for coffee." Daniel finished with a malicious grin.

"**You sound almost as paranoid as our head of security!"** Ironhide groused.

"Well, I don't know about being a head of security, but I can tell ya that a few hundred pounds of copper wiring will bring a lot of quick cash at a recycling yard, and that's what dope heads are always after. They don't care who they hurt, or what they fuck up as long as they can steal what they need to buy their fix." Daniel said irritably.

"Well, speaking of valuables. Shouldn't you get that meat out of his trunk?" Maigan asked with a gesture at Barricade to remind her uncle about the BBQ that she'd been promised.

"Good point! You wanna help me get him unloaded?" Daniel replied as he opened up the garage door to his shop.

Maigan grabbed her ice chest out of the black truck and set it on the ground, before she headed over to Barricade. She saw the trunk open without a sound, and it was obvious that Barricade wanted the stuff removed from his trunk. She grabbed a couple bags and carried them into the shop where Daniel was opening up a chest style freezer.

"Just put the bags in there for right now. They ain't gonna stay long enough to freeze before I put 'em on the pit anyways." He told her.

The two had the bags stored in the freezer rather quickly. Then Daniel grinned and headed across the salvage lot. He jumped in his backhoe and started it up. He drove the machine over to a large flatbed trailer and used the bucket to lift it up. Then Daniel used the backhoe to pull the flatbed trailer over by the garage. Setting the front of the trailer back on the ground, the salvage operator moved the backhoe to an out of the way spot and turned it off.

Two mechs and one human teen could see a very large grin plastered on the man's face as he walked back over to join them.

"Think that'll get the job done?" Daniel asked his niece as he pointed out the large steel box that was permanently mounted on the front of the trailer.

Walking over to the trailer so she could get a better look, Maigan eyed the contraption warily. "What is it?" She finally asked.

"That." Daniel stated proudly. "Is a smoker that will hold an entire side of beef, and a hell of a lot of trimmings!"

"THAT'S A BBQ PIT?" Maigan yelled in disbelief as she stared again at the eight foot long steel box that had a smaller three foot long box at the front of it.

"Nope! It's a smoker. There's a difference. On a pit, the meat is directly above the coals. With a smoker, it's the hot smoke that actually cooks the meat. It makes sure that anything cooked in it is completely saturated with the flavor of whatever kind of wood you use, and I got a shit load of mesquite just for this." Daniel finished with a grin.

Maigan's mouth was already watering at the thought of the meal she'd be having later.

Daniel opened up the firebox on the smoker and went into his shop. He came out a minute later with his arms full of mesquite logs, which he dumped into the firebox. He made six more trips like that before he came out with a small camping sized propane bottle with a torch tip on it. He lit the torch and adjusted the flame until it was nearly two feet long. Then the salvage operator began using that flame to ignite the wood in the smoker. He kept it up until he had the top layer of wood burning good and steady.

Closing the lid of the firebox, Daniel went into the shop and started rounding up some of the items that he thought he'd need in working on the Cybertronians. The ⅛ micron filter was one of the first things to get loaded on the back of the trailer. That was shortly followed by tool boxes filled with specialized torch tips, welding rods, and flux pastes. Daniel was loading everything he had for customized metal work. He'd thought about getting one of the mechs to load the king scan unit onto the trailer, but decided against it, figuring that the sensors Ratchet had were better.

In the meantime, Maigan was in the house packing suitcases. She already had six of them loaded with her clothes, and now she was concentrating on stuff for her uncle. She was mostly packing things like his video game systems, controllers and games to go with them, but she was also gathering some of his clothes as well. She grabbed everything out of the bathroom and stuffed that into an overnight bag so she could find it easily. She knew her uncle tended to think a little differently when it came to most things, and his appearance was NOT one of his priorities.

The two humans had the trailer loaded up in about two hours. Daniel checked the firebox in the smoker at the front of the trailer, and decided that it was time to put the meat on. That took another forty five minutes. When he got done getting the BBQ ready, Daniel noticed that Ironhide was staring intently at something. Walking over to see what the mech was looking at, he looked in the same direction and saw the large iron cross that he'd erected for his friend, Chinook.

"**That was not there when we first came here."** Ironhide said bluntly.

"You're right. It wasn't. I built it the day before yesterday, when Chinook died. I couldn't think of a better way to tell him goodbye, so I did that for him." Daniel stated casually.

"**Are you referring to the canine that lubricated on my foot?"** Ironhide asked curiously.

"Yeah. The one I would've killed you over when you tried to hurt him. He lived more than twice as long as wolves in the wild. He gave it one hell of a run, and he was damned good friend to boot. He came close to taking my arm off a few times, but that was just him. He'd bite first and check later. It was funny. That old wolf would take care of any kind of animal ya put with him like it was his own kid, but he'd chew up a person in a heart beat. He'd be sneaky about it too! He'd jump up, lay against the fence, put his ears back, and whine like he wanted ya to pet him. The only damn thing that'd give away the fact that he wanted ta use you as a damned chew toy was the hair bristled up on his back. He had the intelligence of a wolf, and the mean streak of a German Shepard. Don't think I'll ever find another one like him, and I ain't gonna try." Daniel said with a genuine smile as he recalled some of the wolf hybrid's antics.

Ironhide was about to make another comment when he heard a noise behind him. Turning to see what it was, he saw that Maigan had tears in her eyes and more than a few running slowly down her face.

"**What's wrong?"** The black mech asked her.

"I'm just gonna miss him." Maigan said with a slight shake of her head as she started to wipe the tears away. "He was a pest sometimes, but he was a pretty good friend too."

Maigan noticed her uncle nod to her, but not say anything. She didn't have to ask how he felt, because she knew. During the time that they'd spent together during her summer visits, they had often talked about a lot of things, and Maigan found that she could trust her uncle with any secret she wanted, and never have that trust betrayed. She'd often asked questions about her uncle's brain damage and how things felt to him, so she understood him better than anyone else did. She knew that Daniel hadn't said anything to her about crying for Chinook, because he was actually glad that at least someone was able to greave for the old hybrid.

Maigan wiped her eyes again, and headed back into the house to see if there was anything she'd forgotten. While she was doing that, Daniel was trying to get Ironhide to scan a trailer hitch so the salvage operator could get him hooked up to the trailer.

"**Why do I need to be the one to pull the trailer? Why can't you have Barricade do it?"** Ironhide groused angrily.

"Because a Mustang isn't designed to pull a seventeen foot trailer! They aren't built with the suspension, the frame, or the drive train! That's what they built trucks for. If Barricade gets seen pulling that trailer, he's gonna get stopped by every damned cop between here and the base. They won't even take a second look at you doin it, because you're a truck!" Daniel retorted.

Ironhide growled wordlessly and scanned the hitch assembly from a nearby vehicle, but not the one Daniel had indicated. He transformed back in to his alt mode and allowed Daniel to begin hooking up the trailer. He was more than ready to leave when Maigan finally came out of the house.

Maigan saw the trailer hooked up and apparently ready to go. She saw her uncle watching her and knew right away what he was watching for. She smirked as she began walking around both the truck and the trailer to double check everything to make sure that nothing would be lost during the trip.

The ropes, straps, and even the load of their personal belongings was firmly secured to the trailer, but when she got to the hitch where the trailer was hooked up, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Maigan looked from the hitch assembly to her uncle and started laughing even harder. Bracing herself against the trailer because she was laughing so hard, she looked at the hitch again and had sit down on the trailer because she was laughing even harder.

Daniel was snickering as he walked over to his niece. "I told him to get the hitch off the Ford, but he snagged the one off the Dodge instead. So it looks like you're stuck with it." He said starting to chuckle.

"**I don't understand. What is so slagging funny about being forced to pull a trailer?"** Ironhide complained angrily.

Barricade walked over to see what the humans were laughing at, and when he saw what was beneath the trailer hitch he too burst out laughing uproariously.

"Well... I ... I can't argue... with him having 'em!" Maigan exclaimed before she started laughing even harder.

"**What the pit is so slagging funny?"** Ironhide demanded with a bellow.

"You got a pair of Truck Nutz hanging from the hitch!" Daniel said with a snicker.

"Well it proves he's got balls!" Maigan cackled merrily.

"**The question is does he have the bearings to keep them!"** Barricade challenged laughing.

Ironhide hit the web to look up these Truck Nutz and found them to be an accessory made for nothing more than appearance, but the slogan 'tough enough to take a licking' nearly fried his processor when he realized that the plastic scrotum was already in place.

"Where in the hell did you get those anyway?" Maigan asked her uncle when she finally started catching her breath.

"They were on an old Dodge Dart that got wrecked, so I put em on a truck. I did point out a different hitch for him to scan, but Tackleberry apparently had another idea. I doubt that anybody's gonna argue about him havin em though. Cuz any truck that damned big has DEFINITELY got to have some balls!" Daniel answered.

"No kidding! I can see the jealous looks now." Maigan said with a smile.

"Just remember. NO RACING! That trailer ain't built to handle more'n eighty. So keep it there or slower. I want you two to head on back to Nellis, me and rust bucket will be along shortly." Daniel said seriously.

"Wait! You're not coming with us? Why not?" Maigan asked quickly.

"**Yeah, why AREN'T you coming with us?"** Ironhide demanded suspiciously.

"Look, I got almost one and half million dollars worth of copper layin around out here, and I'll be damned if some fuckin dope head just walks in an' steals it! They're stealin that shit off of poles, breakin into houses and strippin the shit out of the walls, so you can damned well bet that they won't leave my shit alone if they see it!" Daniel retorted angrily.

Maigan gave her uncle an odd look before she just had to ask.

"Why haven't you sold it then?" She asked him.

"Just waitin for the price to go up some." Daniel replied with a grin.

An hour later, most of the copper was buried beneath huge piles of scrap metal. The process had gone quickly because after seeing what was being done, Barricade had lent his considerable strength to the task. The salvage operator was stupefied by the sheer strength of the former Decepticon. The back hoe that he was using had larger hydraulics on it, but those that were built into Barricade's frame were obviously far more powerful despite their much smaller size.

"Come mere!" Daniel bellowed as soon as he shut down the back hoe when they were done.

Barricade looked over at the salvage operator and tried to figure out what was wrong with him now. Anger, confusion, curiosity, and surprise were all flowing to him through the bond he shared with the human. He walked over to see what the demented little man was upset about now.

Daniel didn't say anything as he started looking over the former Decepticon thoroughly.

"**What the pit are you looking for?"** Barricade finally asked irritatedly.

"I'm checkin your ass for busted lines you dumb assed bucket of bolts!" Daniel retorted.

Barricade sighed in irritation. **"I did NOT exert myself! Nor did I use my full strength. Unlike you; I happen to know what my limitations are, and I didn't even come close to approaching those limits!"** Barricade said as he moved away from junk yard owner.

Walking over to a 1968 Buick Roadmaster that had been crushed flat, and was being used to line the drive way, Barricade picked it up and held it casually over his head. The former Decepticon chuckled darkly at the dumbfounded look on the human's face as he easily put the two and a half ton vehicle down.

"**Cybertronian systems are designed and built much better than your terrestrial counterparts."** Barricade said smugly as he walked back over to the human.

Daniel was examining both the hydraulic system and the lines on Barricade's frame when he looked up at the sound of jet engines.

"**Barricade! There you are. Wait what are you doing with a squishy? That IS a squishy right? Why haven't you squished it yet?"** Said a large purple mech as it changed from an F-18 into a large robot.

"**Don't call the human a squishy. You'll only make it mad, and if you do that, then I'll have to clean up the mess it makes out of you."** Barricade warned, not wanting a fight when he actually had VERY few weapons available. He knew that Ratchet had removed and deactivated most of them, but the Autobot medic hadn't found them all, and what was left, wasn't really good for a fight against an aerial.

At the term 'squishy', Daniel had immediately stepped a few feet over to a pile of scrap and grabbed another of the numerous crowbars that were scattered about the junkyard in various places for easy access.

"Mind tellin me your name before you call me a squishy one more time?" Daniel said with a malicious grin.

"**My designation is Skywarp. What's it to you Squishy?"**

"**Don't do it 'Warp! That human is not operating with a full set of processors."** Barricade warned again.

"**I thought that's what everyone says about me. Are you saying this squishy is worse?"** Skywarp asked Barricade before turning back to the human.

Getting down on one knee, Skywarp leaned down so that his face was only inches from that of the junkyard owner.

"**What? Doesn't the little squishy LIKE being called a squishy? If you don't like being called a squishy, I could always step on you and PROVE that you're a squishy!"** Skywarp taunted gleefully.

Daniel didn't say a word as he tightened his grip on the four foot crowbar in his right hand. Instead, he looked the mech right in the optic as he quickly shoved the curved end of the crowbar up the mech's nose.

Daniel was prepared for the mech to pull back, and he was even prepared for the mech to raise up some. What he was NOT prepared for was to have the mech stand completely up to his full height. Even as he felt himself being lifted off the ground, Daniel got a firm grip on the crowbar with his left hand as well. Suddenly everything the salvage operator knew to be a solid immutable law of reality was turned inside out, as he experienced the absolute WEIRDEST sensation of his life.

Barricade had been surreptitiously bringing the few weapons left in his arsenal online. He was ready for a fight to break out. In fact, he'd been expecting one from the first time Daniel had been called a squishy. What he was not prepared for, was what actually happened.

Skywarp stood up to his full height, but unfortunately for him, the curved end of the crowbar had hooked into a passage in his nose, and did not release when he stood up. That meant that he now had not only the pain from the crowbar, but the added weight of the two hundred and fifty pound salvage operator dangling from his sensitive nostril. It was far more pain than he'd been prepared to deal with or even experience and his basic combat programs reacted instantly to extricate him from that pain.

FWOOP!

"**GET!"**

FWOOP!

"**IT!"**

FWOOP!

"**OFF!"**

FWOOP!

"**GETITOFF!"**

FWOOP!

"**GETITOFF! GETITOFF! GET IT OFF!"**

FWOOP!

"**PLEASE!"**

FWOOP!

"**PRIMUS!"**

FWOOP!

"**GETITOFF!"**

Barricade was so stunned by the constantly teleporting apparition, that he could only stare stupidly at the purple seeker who had a human dangling from his nose like a massive black clad organic booger while he blinked in and out of existence.

On the ground, in the air, all over the junkyard; Skywarp was popping in and out so fast, and so randomly that Barricade's battle computer was completely unable to determine where the seeker would show up next. Finally, the seeker popped out and didn't return.

Instantly Barricade felt the fluids in every one of his lines turn to ice. His spark fell even as he felt a horrible sinking sensation in the pit of his tanks. Whether he would admit to it or not, he'd actually started to like the unorthodox salvage operator, and the fact that he was now Primus alone knew where, and in the company of a seeker who was reputedly almost as deranged as the human was, all added up to a VERY bad mess. It was not a good situation.

"HOLY SHIT!" Daniel finally exclaimed, as the weird feeling of being turned inside out and thrown sideways finally stopped.

Suddenly, he felt himself falling. "Oh fuck!"

He ended up on the ground with the breath knocked out of him. It took him a minute or two to catch his breath, and when he did, he looked over at the purple mech who was lying on the ground flat on his back, and apparently out cold. Daniel shook his head and got up rather stiffly, he knew he was going to be sore tomorrow, after that little mess, but he figured that he'd worry about it later. Going over to the downed seeker, Daniel reached in to the neck juncture and shut the thing down. Climbing on top of the seeker, Daniel retrieved his crowbar, and sat down on the shoulder to have a smoke and try to figure out where the hell he was.

Daniel reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his smokes. He lit one up, took a drag, and looked around. He and the mech he was sitting on seemed to be in a ravine of some kind. The desert terrain was similar to that of his junkyard, but then he knew that the same terrain could be found anywhere within three hundred miles of his junkyard as well, so that was no help. He knew from the way everything looked that he could be anywhere in a one hundred and fifty mile radius of Mission City, if he wasn't somewhere else on the planet entirely.

Daniel was pretty sure that the purple mech had somehow teleported, but he had no clue as to how it had been accomplished. He pulled out his cell phone and checked to see what his signal strength was. Seeing zero bars on the screen was no surprise.

_Just my damned luck!_ Daniel thought sourly.

He stuck his cell phone back in his pocket and got ready to light another smoke and figure out what he was going to do, when the left front pocket of his jeans started buzzing loudly. Surprised and more than a little confused, Daniel stood up and reached in to the pocket to pull out the portable scanner that Ratchet had given him but had never requested back. Daniel stared at the device stupidly for a few seconds before he finally activated it.

"**Damnit human! Where in the forsaken pits of the slagging matrix are you? Why don't you answer the damned comm unit?"** Barricade's voice demanded angrily.

"I forgot that I still had this damned thing!" Daniel retorted through the scanner.

"**Well just wait there. I just got your location through the scanner and I'm on my way." **Barricade replied.

Daniel didn't even have time to finish the second smoke he'd lit when Barricade came rolling up the ravine followed by an impossibly huge cloud of billowing dust. Daniel started coughing and hacking as he choked on the dust that Barricade had brought with him.

Barricade transformed quickly and looked down at the human sitting so calmly, and so nonchalantly on top of the notoriously impossible to catch seeker. With all the irritating bravado that the human had shown, Barricade was certain that he would never shut up about this one.

"I completely forgot about this damned thing." Daniel said holding up the portable scanner and comm unit with his left hand while still using his right to smoke.

"**Well it's a slagging good thing I didn't, or you could have been stuck out here! I would have tried your cell phone first, but I don't have the frequency to it." **Barricade retorted.

"Wouldn't 'ave made any difference anyways; damned thing ain't got signal." Daniel shot back.

Barricade looked at the teleporting seeker who was lying on the ground. There wasn't a single sign of visible damage to the seeker. Curiosity prompted the black and white mech to run a scan over it. Other than a somewhat low power level that was rapidly being replenished, he couldn't find anything wrong, except for the fact that the mech was deactivated.

"**So what are you going to do with him now?"** Barricade asked cautiously.

"I don't know." Daniel said in a thoughtful tone as he turned and looked at the mechs head, before looking back at Barricade. "Hadn't really thought about that part of it. Can you drag this big bastard back to the junk yard?"

"**Not without help. I may be strong enough to lift his actual weight, but for some reason an unconscious mech feels like it weighs much more than they actually do."** Barricade replied honestly.

"Yeah. Dead weight's a bitch ain't it?"

"**What? What do you mean by dead weight? He's not dead yet you little slagger!"** Barricade retorted angrily.

Daniel sighed heavily. "It's called dead weight. Maigan might weigh about a hundred and fifteen pounds. I can carry her weight without much problem by putting it on my shoulder, but trying to carry her while she's out cold, would be almost impossible for me, because she'd be dead weight. It's a fact of life that an unconscious body doubles in weight, and there ain't a damned thing you can do about it."

"**That happens with humans too?"** Barricade asked in a puzzled tone.

"Yup. So, I guess this means we got to head on back to the yard, and get my dozer to drag him back there." Daniel answered as he finished his smoke.

"**Then what?"** Barricade demanded suspiciously.

"Hell, I don't know!" Daniel said with a puzzled expression. "I guess we could load his big ass up on a flat bed, cover him up with some tarps, and then, maybe I could borrow a rig from a buddy of mine, and we can haul his ass back to Nellis and see what Big Rig wants to do with him."

"**Or we could just offline him and you could sell him for scrap like you keep threatening to do."** Barricade retorted with an evil smirk.

Daniel looked up at Barricade as if the mech had lost his processors in a bet.

"You're kiddin me right? I wouldn't have a fuggin clue as to where in the hell I'd even sell alloys like the ones he's made of! Although I'd find a use for them damned hydraulics REAL quick!" Daniel finished with a grin. "Anyway, he can't tell us what he knows if he's done been busted up."

"**Hmm. You do have a point. Since he IS a member of Starscream's trine, he would know about what is currently happening among the Decepticons. That is information we can BOTH use."** Barricade mused with a grin.

"An if he don't wanna talk, then I can scrap out his limbs one at a time until he DOES talk!" Daniel added with a menacing smile.

Barricade snickered as he transformed back into the Saleen Mustang. He was really beginning to like this human. Willing to share with those he considered to be friends, but as utterly ruthless as even the meanest of Decepticons towards his enemies.

Daniel got into the Mustang, and Barricade made short work in following the ravine to the back pasture of the junk yard. Barricade knew that Daniel was extremely lucky in that he'd somehow only ended up about a mile away from his junk yard. Barricade thought about explaining about the teleporter's ability, but didn't because he didn't really understand it himself.

As soon as they returned to the junkyard, Daniel began rounding up a ton of chains and taking them over to be placed on the back of a very rusted bull dozer. Looking like it had been built sometime during the second world war, there was hardly any of the original yellow paint left on it, the rest was mostly rust.

"**You think that contraption will actually pull Skywarp back here?"** Barricade asked in disbelief.

"Oh yeah. She may not look like much, but she was built back when they knew how to make things last. She can pull his ass all the way back to Nellis, as long as I keep her tank filled. Although I don't think there'd be a whole lot left of Skywarp by the time we got there." Daniel retorted.

Barricade shuddered at the thought of just how that would sound and feel. **"Well, then let's go get him. The sooner we get him back here the sooner we can get back to Nellis."** Barricade groused.

Daniel climbed in to the seat of the old dozer and cranked it up. The seventy year old engine rumbled to life with no problem. Daniel put the dozer in gear and started heading back to where he had left the deactivated Decepticon.

Twenty minutes later, Barricade was looking at the bottom of the ravine with a scowl on his face plates. He knew that this was where they had left the mech. There was even the indention in the ground where the mech had fallen. The only problem was; there was no mech.

Daniel shut down the dozer and climbed down looking at the ground. "Well, is this where it's sposed ta be or not?"

"**He was here. You can even see the depression in the dirt, but he's not here now."** Barricade said irritably.

Daniel and the former Decepticon started looking around the area for any signs or clues, when they both spotted a series of deep imprints in the ground. They led further down the ravine and with out a single word to each other they both began following the strange imprints.

Fully an hour later, Daniel was really wishing that he had one of his drinks with him. At that point he was almost sure that he'd even be grateful for a damned Lo-Bal or a Monster Hammer. Both he and Barricade were intent on finding out just what had happened to the mech when they saw it lying on the ground ahead.

Forgetting his thirst for the moment, Daniel ran up to the downed mech and began looking it over. Nothing had changed, since it was still in a deactivated state, but Daniel shook his head as he tried to understand how it had gotten there. Looking around for any possible clues. The only thing in sight was the enormously huge piece of some kind of underground drilling equipment that was perhaps fifty feet away.

Daniel frowned as he realized that something wasn't right. He walked around slowly looking at both the mech, the strange looking drilling thing that he couldn't identify, and those weird looking tracks on the ground. He had a highly suspicious frame of mind as he walked over to the piece of unknown equipment and started walking around it, looking at it and the ground it was sitting on.

He knew that it was some kind of drilling tool because of the massive drill bit on the front of it. Fifteen feet long and about ten feet wide at the base, it was the BIGGEST drill bit for underground boring that Daniel had ever heard of! The entire assembly was mounted on huge treads that were more than twenty feet long and nearly five feet wide. What ever this thing was, it was huge! Dirt and dried mud were caked everywhere, and Daniel could see that nearly every cover panel on it was thicker than his entire body. He knew instantly that whatever it was had to be close to the maximum weight limit of the two wreckers back at Nellis, if this thing didn't EXCEED that limit! On a guess, Daniel estimated somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty tons, or more.

Suddenly Daniel got a truly nasty realization, and he looked at the ground of the ravine once more. He knew that this dry bed creek hadn't seen enough rain to get more than three inches deep in at least a decade, so where were the tracks made by this heavy monster of a machine. That was when he realized just what those strange indentions were that he and Barricade had followed.

With a mischievous smirk, Daniel turned to look at Barricade as he leaned against the strange machine. He saw Barricade making subtle motions to him to get away from the machine, but Daniel ignored them.

"Damn Barricade! Do you have any POSSIBLE idea just how much this thing is gonna be worth after I get it back to the yard and start cutting it up for scrap?" Daniel asked smugly.

Barricade instantly slammed his right palm into his face, while shaking his head. He knew, just KNEW that this glitch ridden little virus of a deranged human was going to get them both killed.

Barricade wasn't about to use his scanners, because he had instantly known from the size of the tracks that the mech they were dealing with was much bigger than he could effectively handle. He knew from looking at the alt mode that this was one huge mech, and it was also one that he wasn't sure he would be willing to face even if he had all of his weapons available to him. He knew one thing for sure, and it was that he wasn't about to frag this mech off with out a VERY good reason.

"**Slag it Daniel! What are you trying to do? Get us BOTH killed?"** Barricade demanded angrily.

Before Daniel could answer he was cut off by the sounds of grinding metal, shifting gears, and rocks being crushed.

As soon as he heard that noise, Daniel stepped away from the strange machine, and watched it curiously. Barricade transformed his hands in to a nasty series of plasma charged blades, and stepped back to make sure he was ready for anything.

As the strange mech finished transforming and stood up to his full height, Barricade couldn't help but gape in awe. Even as Daniel only reached as high as mid thigh on him, he could instantly see that he would only be as tall as mid thigh on the mech in front of him. He saw that even Optimus wouldn't reach any higher than the lower part of the mid chest on the mech. The really frightening part was that this mech was actually WIDER than he was tall!

Barricade felt his spark sink as he realized that if this came down to a fight, there was no chance of him getting through armor panels that were more than half as thick as his entire frame. Who ever this mech was, he had armor the likes of which Barricade had never seen before, and the sheer massiveness of the mech was more than a problem. The huge drill bit that had been mounted at the front of the machine was now split in to four pieces and was mounted on the forearms and shoulders of the huge mech that was now staring down at Daniel.

"**Try it ya lil whipper snapper! You ain't no bigger than a corn nubbin, an I personally don't think you have any idea who you're tryin ta mess with!"** The big mech said seriously.

Daniel looked over at Barricade and grinned.

"I knew that would get him to transform." He said proudly.

"**Sonny, you'd better be real careful about makin comments like that cuz if'n you think I cain't bust your butt till you can't sit down for a whole week, then you got another thing comin! I'll bend you over one of my fingers and break out my razor strop an wear that butt of yours out but good! I didn't fall off of no turnip truck, and I ain't gonna take no lip from you. Understand me sonny?"** The big mech said in a near growl.

Barricade listened to the warning that was issued and began to relax a bit. Whoever this mech was, he obviously didn't intend to kill them outright, or he would have done that already, instead of giving a warning. Seeing that there was at least the possibility of befriending this mech, Barricade shut down the power to his plasma blades and transformed them back into his hands.

Daniel pointed his left thumb over his shoulder at Barricade. "Yeah he keeps tellin me that, but for some reason, I just can't bring myself to listen to the Ol rust bucket. So what's your name anyway?"

"**Name's Rockhammer, an I been around long enough, that I don't need ta take any lip. Not from you or anyone else either! Now why don't you just tell me what you were plannin on doin with that young 'un there!"** Rockhammer demanded pointing at the deactivated form of Skywarp.

"Well, considering that he's a Decepticon, I'm taking him back to my junkyard where he can stay until Big Rig decides what to do with him." Daniel answered candidly.

"**Ain't never heard of a mech called Big Rig. So that ain't tellin me nothin."** Rockhammer replied.

"Well, the actual name is Optimus, if that helps." Daniel answered.

"**That still don't tell me nothin, boy cause, I ain't heard of him either."** Rockhammer said sourly.

"**You haven't heard of Optimus Prime? He is the rightful and lawful leader of Cybertron, and you haven't heard of him? Where have you been, and how long were you there?"** Barricade asked in near shock.

"**I been right here sonny! I know some of the Primes personally, and this Optimus of yours ain't one of 'em. Now why don't you just tell Ol Rockhammer what's been going on, cuz I think you two young-uns got some serious explainin to do! An ain't neither one of ya told me why I shouldn't get this here other young 'un up an runnin again."** Rockhammer stated in a tone that said he wasn't taking no for an answer.** "As for where I've been, I been right here on this here planet for more than five hundred million years. I was assigned to do a deep core prospect on what ores this planet might have, so that we could use 'em to build colonies outside Cybertron's solar system."**

Barricade gaped as his processors reeled in shock. There were legends and myths of more than a single Prime, but all of that was supposed to have been near the time of the Original Thirteen. The original thirteen were supposed to be a rumor, but this mech claimed to KNOW them!

Daniel looked up at the big mech with a curious expression on his face. "Okay, if you been here for that damned long, then why in the hell are you showing up now?"

"**Don't cuss me boy. I still got my razor strop handy, so I can bust your butt good! I been workin mines on this here planet for generations. I been workin side by side with your miners, an we made a good team. Then this one company buys out the mine, and everybody tells me that I got ta get out while I still can before they find out about me, so here I am. A deep core prospector, with no mine to work. Cain't mine this world cuz according to the laws, there's a civilization here, so this place is out. I was about ta head on back ta Cybertron, when I found the young-un over there."** Rockhammer said matter of factly, before he turned dead serious. **"Now it's your turn to tell me what's been goin on, and why this one shouldn't be up an runnin!"**

"Look. It's like this. The Decepticons want to wipe the Autobots off the face of the universe, so they can take over and do what ever the hell they want. Autobots are tryin like hell to stop 'em. That guy there is a Decepticon, and from what I know, they ain't too damned happy about us humans, and would love nothin more than to kill us as well." Daniel answered bluntly.

"**So what exactly were ya planning on doin with him? You gonna kill him in cold blood?"** Rockhammer asked with narrowed optics.

"Nope! I'm gonna figure out a way to get him back to Nellis Air Force base, and let Optimus make that decision. He makes the decisions, I do the repairs." Daniel said with a grin. "Speaking of repairs. You look and sound horrible. I'll bet a good blast from a pressure washer would do ya some good. Not to mention a few tubes from a grease gun. Can't do anything about the paint, but I can sure get you cleaned up some, and give you a tune up."

The large mech peered down at the human who wasn't even as tall as his knee. **"Son, if you can do that, I'd be much obliged. I can't tell ya how long it's been since my last tune up."**

Rockhammer knelt down to get a little closer to the junk yard owner. Suddenly, Daniel ducked in reflex as a rock exploded after being crushed by the mech's knee joint.

"**I'm right sorry about that. That's one of the reasons I'm gonna take you up on that offer, if ya don't mind."** Rockhammer said sincerely.

He'd remained on this planet much longer than he should have been after finding himself in the midst of other sentient miners, more than two hundred years ago. He'd inadvertently discovered the humans after a cave in of the shaft they were working. His highly developed sensors had detected the vibrations, and movements of the screaming humans through several miles of rock. Realizing that these natives were simply using less advanced methods of mineral extraction, he knew immediately that they had to be sentient. He'd never regretted rescuing those miners, and nothing could ever make him do so, but now it seemed that there might be something going on that could possibly threaten this developing civilization. He needed more information badly, and the only way he could see getting it, was from this human, and his Cybertronian companion.

Using his sensors rather than his optics, Rockhammer took a good look at the second Cybertronian he'd seen in more ages than he cared to count. Built for agility and speed, the mech was obviously fast. The armor on the mech wasn't anywhere close to being as durable as his, and could in no way tolerate the extremely high temperatures found deep in a planetary mantle. The arms of the little mech were obviously where the primary strength was located, and Rockhammer shook his head. Never before in his existence had he ever seen a mech like this. He'd seen warrior bots before, but this one... This one had apparently taken fighting to spark. Then a nasty suspicion hit his processors.

"**How can you tell that young-un is one of those Decepticons, and how can you tell which side he's on?" **Rockhammer demanded of the human pointing first at the Decepticon, and then at Barricade himself.

"Autobots tend to display a red emblem of a different kind of face, and Decepticons wear that purple face. I know what side this guy's on, because he nearly got killed trying to talk someone else into not wiping us out." Daniel answered pointing out the faction emblem on the seeker.

"**In that case; I think I need to have a little pow-wow with this Optimus of yours. I got a lot of questions that are wantin answers, an I don't rightly see getting those answers out here in the middle of the desert."** Rockhammer said easily.

"**Now just what was you planning on doin to get this young-un back to this junk yard of yours, and why a junk yard at that?"** Rockhammer asked.

"Well, I was gonna hook him up to my dozer and pull him back, but that was left back where he was. As for the junkyard, well… That's what I did before I found out about you guys, since then, I've worked on more than a couple of you." Daniel said as Barricade started snickering.

"**Now just why do you think that's funny son?"** Rockhammer snapped at the enforcer.

"**He pulled Jazz out of the matrix, and my femme creator Starglide back from the brink of it. I think it's funny that he's not bragging. ESPECIALLY considering how obnoxious he is about everything else!"** Barricade replied still snickering.

Rockhammer nodded his head. Then he reached over and grabbed the unconscious form of Skywarp and lifted the seeker to his shoulder before he stood up. **"Now why don't you quit starin at me and give the little young-un a lift, since his legs ain't near as long as yours. Cause I guarantee that your short little nubbins are gonna have a tough time keepin up with my long legs, an he ain't gonna be able to do it at all."**

Daniel looked over at Barricade as he gaped at the way that Rockhammer had so casually draped the seeker over his shoulder. He'd seen how strong Barricade was, and an unintentional display of strength that would make the mech stare was probably not a good thing if Rockhammer decided to get violent. He waited until Barricade stepped closer to him and then he suddenly kicked the mech in his ankle.

"**What in the slagging Pit was that for you rotten little glitch of a fleshwad?"** Barricade snarled as he and the human grabbed at their ankles.

"That was for being rude to him by staring, and for mocking me damnit!" Daniel snapped.

Rockhammer watched the two for a second before something occurred to him. **"You kicked him with the other foot, so why are you holdin the same ankle he is?"**

"**That's because the rotten meatbag and I share a stinking spark bond of brotherhood, and if you know of some way to break it without killing us; PLEASE tell me so I can be done with this little glitch!"** Barricade groused irritably.

"**I'm not gonna ask, cause I'm pretty sure I don't want to know anymore on that one."** Rockhammer muttered loud enough that the other two heard it.

Daniel started snickering loudly. "Face it rust bucket, you're STUCK with me!"

"**You may be right about that, you over evolved slime puddle, but if I EVER get a chance to be rid of you... WATCH how fast it happens!"** Barricade threatened mirthfully as he reached down and picked up the target of his threat.

Rockhammer just shook his head after deciding not to get involved in what was apparently a family issue. **"Come on kids. I think we got some places to go, don't we?"**

The long legs of the two mechs made good time as they headed down the ravine back towards the junkyard, and it wasn't long before they came upon an old, faded, and rusted D-5 Caterpillar that was baking in the hot desert sun that was beating down into the ravine. Rockhammer looked at the old dozer, before he looked down at Daniel sitting in Barricade's hand. **"Is that thing yours?"**

"Yep. She may be old, but she runs like a champ." Daniel stated proudly.

Rockhammer made no comment about the old bull dozer as he reached down with his left hand, and easily picked the old dozer up.

"**Okay, now how far is it to this junkyard of yours?"** He asked nonchalantly.

Daniel and Barricade both gaped at the casual display of strength that the big mech so readily displayed. Barricade knew that the bull dozer was something that he wouldn't have been able to move, let alone actually lift, but somehow this big mech had done just that.

Daniel, who'd owned the dozer for several years, knew exactly how much it weighed. At fifty-two tons, that thing was no light weight piece of machinery. Rockhammer's strength was nothing to be sneered at. Daniel stared for nearly a full minute in stunned silence at the old mech before he elbowed Barricade to get his attention.

"Remind me to NEVER piss that dude off." Daniel said softly.

Barricade only nodded his head as he watched the large mech move with ease while carrying such a heavy load. Then he realized something. **"By the way, my name is Barricade, and my human friend here is named Daniel."** He stated making a rather late introduction.

"Friend, huh? When the hell did we hit that point?" Daniel ribbed.

"**For me, it was when you saved the life of my femme creator, and if you ever tell anyone... I'll squish you."** Barricade retorted.

_Okay folks, That's the end of this chapter, and I would like all of you to thank Vader's Bane for helping me out with ideas on this. Next chapter is in the works. Also I know that there is no type of Drilling rig like the one described in here, because Rockhammer has kept his Cybertronian alt mode._


	13. Chapter 13

ROH Chapter 13

_**Author's notes: Okay folks, I messed up in some previous chapters. It turns out that while Hoover Dam is located on the Colorado river, it is actually only thirty-five miles from Las Vegas. This chapter reflects those locations; I will edit and change the others to match a little later. Sorry about that that.**_

Rockhammer looked around at the piles of junk and scrap metal lying in what seemed to be haphazard piles almost everywhere. He was more than a little disconcerted by the impossibly HUGE mess that made up the entire junkyard! He was still trying to process the unbelievable chaos, when the junkyard's owner spoke up.

"Just put those down in any clear spot. I gotta get a hold of a friend of mine and see if I can borrow his HET to get all three of you over to Nellis. Damn, that's gonna be fun! A crap load of paper work, and a ton of permits. That's not even counting the escort from the police and the highway patrol." Daniel said complaining sourly about the requirements for the transport.

"**What excuse are you going to use? You know those humans are going to want some kind of explanation."** Barricade teased with a snicker.

"Hmmm. Junkyard to an Air Force base..." Daniel muttered thinking hard.

Suddenly he looked up at Barricade and grinned sadistically.

"There's only one BELIEVABLE reason for the Air Force to buy something from a junk yard. And that's to use the stuff as a TARGET!" Daniel said with a wide grin.

Barricade growled menacingly at the salvage operator as he put the man down. Then he gave the man a wide smile showing all of his dagger like teeth. **"Optimus wouldn't let that happen. On the other hand, your Secretary of Defense John Keller just might prefer to use YOU as a, what do you call them... Oh yes; a LIVE target!"** Barricade taunted.

"**You two just LOVE ta get each other riled don't ya?"** Rockhammer asked after he'd unburdened himself.

"You know a better way to have some fun?" Daniel shot back.

"**I can see right now, that I'm gonna need a couple more razor strops, cuz I'm gonna be wearin this one out REAL quick like."** Rockhammer muttered.

Daniel didn't say anything to that. Instead he headed over to his shop and opened his ice chest and grabbed a one litre Mt. Dew. Nearly a third of it was gone when he finally pulled it away from his mouth. Then pulling out his cell phone, Daniel made a call.

"Hello?"

"Hey Darrel. You still got that HET? I got a few things I need to haul over to Nellis." Daniel said getting right to the point.

"Sure, I'm not usin it. You wouldn't want to loan me that A frame truck would ya? I need to move some engines around." Darrel replied.

"Sure! I've got it over at the storage lot fro moving things around over there, but I'm gonna be gone for a few days, after I drop this stuff off. Meet me at the gate of my storage lot, since that's where everything is."

"I'll be there in about ninety minutes. Want me to keep an eye on your place while you're gone?" Darrel asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great, and thanks Buddy." Daniel said hanging up.

"Now, I need to figure out how I'm gonna get those permits." Daniel muttered to himself.

"**Why don't you use the scanner to contact Optimus, and let him make the arrangements?"** Barricade suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." Daniel said as he pulled out the small unit that Ratchet had loaned him. "How do I call him on this thing?"

Barricade looked at the active device for a second and then pointed out a Cybertronian glyph on the small screen. **"That one is his comm signal. Tap that, and you'll have direct communication if he responds."**

"Damn, this is a handy little bugger!" Daniel said with a grin as he tried to open a channel to the Autobot leader.

"**Daniel?"** Optimus asked after checking the location and source of the signal. **"How did you get this frequency?"** Optimus asked puzzled.

"Oh, I'm using that scanner thing that Ratchet loaned me so I could scan your engine. He never asked to have it back, and I forgot about it until a little while ago. But the reason I'm calling is that I need all kinds of permits, and an escort to use a HET to bring some stuff over to Nellis. Maigan and Ironhide are bringing a trailer of stuff back, and then I ran into some other... uh... stuff that I need to bring, and I mentioned it to Barricade, and he told me how to call you." Daniel answered.

"He suggested that I let you make the arrangements and I'm guessing that you'd be able to do it a lot easier than I can, since you got all that kick ass internet stuff." Daniel added quickly.

"**I can make the arrangements without a problem, but what exactly are you bringing?"** Optimus asked curiously.

"Tell ya what, Big Rig. Let's keep this as a surprise until I get to the base, because I wanna be there to see the look on your face when you find out what I've got." Daniel replied with a grin.

A loud groan was heard from the unit as Optimus' processors tried in vain to figure out what the salvage operator had this time. **"Fine. I'll see what it is when you get here. And it had BETTER not be something for you to annoy Ratchet or Ironhide with."** Optimus warned gravely.

"Oh... don't worry about that Big Rig; I already got that covered." Daniel stated happily.

A noise of resigned exasperation emerged from the scanning unit before the connection was terminated.

"Well, Rockhammer. It looks like we got a bit of time before the transport gets here, so I might as well get you cleaned up a bit." Daniel said as he walked into his shop and pulled out a pressure washer. Then he went back into his shop, and brought out three gallons of WD-40. He started back towards his shop when he heard Rockhammer chuckle.

"**WD-40, the best stuff ever made as far as I'm concerned. That stuff will work some miracles on a bot's joints! I know of a lot of miners that swear by the stuff. Has a right nice smell to it too."** Rockhammer commented happily.

"Yep, stuff works wonders; don't it." Daniel said as he walked back into the shop to grab a water hose.

"**Yup! Sure does. Ain't ever seen anything like it. This stuff makes my joints produce their own natural lube faster than anything else. And that includes the stuff in a medbay."** Rockhammer replied.

"**Wait. Are you saying that stuff will repair a damaged joint?"** Barricade demanded quickly.

"**Nah. It won't repair a joint, but it will stimulate your own lube production so that your systems can fix the joint faster, why?"** Rockhammer answered.

"**Because he used that stuff on my femme creator when he worked on her."** Barricade said with mixed emotions.

"**Don't worry too much about it then, sonny. That's some real fine oil he used, and after seein what it did for me when them miners used it; I wouldn't ever complain about it."** Rockhammer said firmly.

Barricade only nodded his head, while thinking about it as he watched Daniel hook up the water hose and the pressure washer.

Daniel turned on the water, and started up the pressure washer. "Okay 'Hammer, change back in to the drill rig and I can get you washed down."

Rockhammer looked down at Daniel with a curious expression on his face plates. **"Why do all of you humans end up callin me Hammer?"**

"'Hammer. Short for Rockhammer. Besides, you look like you can pound the hell out of damned near anything."

"**And you little guys wonder why I like ya."** Rockhammer said chuckling as he transformed.

Once again, the sounds of grinding metal, shifting and turning gears, rocks being crushed, and dirt being ground into the various moving parts filled the air as the old mech transformed. As soon as the transformation was complete, Daniel stepped forward and started blasting away dirt, clay, mud, and rock that had been there for who knew how many generations.

Almost as soon as he started, there was a sound like a sigh of relief as the massive mech settled further down on his treads. **"I would've SWORN that water would be COLD!"** Rockhammer said thankfully.

Daniel laughed mischievously. "Nah! You don't need a cold shower right now, but you will after you get a look at Starglide!"

Both mechs started spluttering instantly. Barricade was spluttering in indignation, while Rockhammer was spluttering in disbelief.

"**My creator is NOT a sex object!"** Barricade growled angrily.

"**I've never met this Starglide, so I cain't say one way or the other right now, but I don't much cotton women bein treated like that. Ya hear?"** Rockhammer stated irritably. **"And what's a little critter like you doin gawkin at a Cybertronian femme anyways?"**

"Look you two; it's like this. Starglide's got all the right parts in all the right places. I know, because I helped put 'em there during her repairs yesterday. Even if she was nothing but a machine built by us, I'd be sayin the same damned thing. Look around. I own a junkyard. I know a fine piece of machinery or equipment when I see it and Starglide beats everything I've got hands down. Ironhide said she's small, fast, and highly maneuverable, and quite frankly, I'd LOVE a chance to be in the cockpit when she struts her stuff, 'cause I'm bettin that's gonna be one HELL of a ride!" Daniel said enthusiastically.

"**I still don't wanna hear you talkin about her that way. Even if she did somethin ta deserve it, ya ain't got the right! Ya hear me boy?"** Rockhammer demanded grouchily.

"**Actually, I think I'll just tell my mother what you said about her and let her deal with you, since I'm QUITE sure that she'll deliver a MUCH better punishment than either one of us can."** Barricade said with an evil smirk.

"**You think she can deal out somethin better than a good dose of a razor strop?"** Rockhammer asked interestedly.

"**Oh yes! I'm sure the little glitch there is going to SERIOUSLY regret his actions today; LONG before my mother gets done with him."** Barricade said with a sinister tone.

Both mechs started snickering at that, and the salvage operator got a disgruntled expression on his face.

"I'm gonna tell my mommy on you." Daniel mocked in childlike tone.

"**That's exactly what I'm going to do! So enjoy your little bit of fun while you can meatball, because I can guarantee that you won't be having any fun when my mother gets a hold of you!"** Barricade warned.

"Meatball? MEATBALL? Tell me that's not the best you got. But then I guess I really shouldn't expect much from an over sized chunk of scrap." Daniel shot back.

"**I see no reason to give my processors a workout right now. Because they'll get a REALLY good workout from me when I'm trying to stay online while watching my mother deal with you. Although, I'm sure that Ratchet won't be too happy with me afterwards, because he'll probably be replacing some of my components after I damage them from LAUGHING so hard!"** Barricade retorted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Daniel griped sourly as he continued blasting the filth off of the mech in front of him.

It took him a good twenty minutes with the pressure washer to get the crud off the large mech, but when he finally did, he shut down the pressure washer, and set it aside.

"Now I need you to transform and lay down, so I can get to your joints." Daniel instructed as he picked up a two gallon pressure sprayer and filled it with WD-40.

Rockhammer couldn't have been much happier at that moment. Whatever else he might say about the irritating little human, he had to give the man some credit for not skimping on the good stuff. He watched with interested glee as Daniel kept having to pump up the sprayer so that every joint and movable part was thoroughly doused with one of the best lubes ever invented by the human species.

As he rolled over, Rockhammer could feel that penetrating oil seeping into his joints and stimulating his own lubricant production. It was a wonderful sensation to a mech that had spent ages in his alt mode. Never for the spark of him, would he have thought that the primitive simians that he used to watch as they scampered about in the small scraggly trees of another continent could turn out to be intelligent and make such a wonderful product. He'd spent ages observing the life on the planet. He watched the emergence and extinction of hundreds of species. He'd been aware of the budding civilization for several thousand years, but had never done anything to interfere, or reveal himself, until he'd heard the screams of the trapped miners. After rescuing them, he'd eventually ended working with them. It had been an uneasy relationship at first, until he'd learned their language, but after that, he'd gotten along with them just fine, and had even helped and watched over several generations of miners, until recent events had forced him out.

Rockhammer had been on such good terms with the miners that they had readily kept his secret, and even assisted with his maintenance needs when they could. He hated having to leave them, but now, it seemed that he might, just MIGHT have a chance, and a reason to stay on this planet.

He was idly thinking about this strange turn of events in his life when Daniel finally finished soaking down his joints.

"Now, just give that stuff about five minutes to work down into those joints, and you oughta be good to go for a while. I can finish gettin ya squared away when we get to Nellis, but for right now, I got a transport en route and a BBQ pit full of food heading into Nellis now, if it ain't already there. So, all we're waitin on now is for Big Rig to call me back and tell me he got that damned paper work done." Daniel stated as he walked over to retrieve his Mt. Dew.

"**You ain't plannin on gettin lit are ya? I don't cotton ta drunks at all, so if that's yer plan, you can count me out of it."** Rockhammer said firmly.

"Ha! I don't drink much." Daniel began before he was interrupted by loud laughter from Barricade. Daniel turned to look at the former Decepticon with a hard glare.

"When the HELL have you EVER seen me with alcohol?" He demanded angrily.

"**That? Never! But the amount of caffeine you go through frags Ratchet off enough that it might as well be alcohol."** Barricade retorted.

"Hate ta break it to you, Scrap heap. But I can't stand the smell of beer, forget about the taste, and as far as liquor goes; only on rare occasions, and ONLY the good stuff, which is pretty damned expensive." Daniel informed irritably.

"**Doesn't make any difference as far as Ratchet's concerned, and you know it!"** Barricade shot back.

"I don't care what he thinks! He better leave my damned coffee alone, or I'm gonna separate his head from the rest of him and then fix him up enough to let him watch while I make a damned BBQ pit out of his head and crank that sucker up!" Daniel stated sincerely.

"**Good Lord, Sonny! A little fond of that coffee, are ya? Ain't heard a warnin that serious since one of the miners found out about another courtin his daughter." **Rockhammer interjected as he got to his feet.

"**There's only one problem with it. He's completely serious. My femme creator had to separate those two by force yesterday, and she wasn't happy about it either. I thought she was going to end up killing the little glitch monger when he wasn't willing to let it go easily."** Barricade recalled humorously.

"**That sounds like one way ta handle a pair of ornery cusses. But I was talkin about havin a little XX Busthead with that BBQ of Yours."** Rockhammer commented.

"Double X Busthead? What's that?" Daniel asked dubiously.

"**That'd be the home made whiskey them miners used ta make."** Rockhammer replied.

"Holy SHIT! Talk about kickin like a mule and twice as hard! I've heard stories that the crap you're talkin about was nearly as strong as moonshine!" Daniel exclaimed.

"**Sure was! Some of that stuff was even strong enough ta git ME overcharged!"** Rockhammer replied.

"**Holy Primus! HUMAN alcohol was able to get a mech your size overcharged?"** Barricade demanded in doubt.

"**Oh yeah. And watch out for the next day, 'cause you'll be wishin for Megatronus Prime to show up an offline ya SLOWLY just so you can feel a bit better before you die!"** Rockhammer answered with a grin.

"Hey 'Hammer? That's called a hang over from hell! I know with us, there ain't no cure except for just letting it go away on its own, and I'd almost bet that it's the same for you guys." Daniel said with a chuckle.

Daniel motioned for the two mechs to follow him while they continued the conversation, as he led the way to the storage lot.

"**Yup! You'd be purgin your tanks so hard that you'd SWEAR they were comin up next! Your processors ache somethin fierce, and every sensor in your frame is yammerin at ya so loud that ya cain't even think. Not that ya want to 'cause it hurts too much!"** Rockhammer replied.

"**How much of that slagging stuff did you drink to get an overcharge?"** Barricade demanded incredulously.

"**Well I only had right at five hundred gallons, but then that was on a full charge too. On the other hand, you ain't gettin me ta try that stuff again!"** Rockhammer explained.

Daniel shook his head when he heard that. "Damn. Five hundred gallons of booze? In one night? That must have been one hell of a party!"

"**Well, they only did it cause I led 'em to a vein of ore that made 'em all... stinkin rich I think they called it. They found this one lump of near pure gold that was a little over sixty pounds. They could have retired on that vein, but they stuck it out, and stayed with me. An I figured that I couldn't rightly abandon 'em. 'Sides, I kinda liked them folks."** Rockhammer said easily.

Ten minutes later, they reached the gate of Daniel's storage lot, and Barricade looked around with a bit of morbid fascination. Almost any kind of mech could hide here given the various types of equipment and vehicles that were in the lot. Almost every type of vehicle that a human could possibly need was there to be scanned. The enforcer was amazed by the sheer variety. Primus help him, but there were even military vehicles there, although for what reason, the mech had no idea. It was when he spotted one particularly odd vehicle that was obviously NOT of civilian make that he turned to question the demented little owner.

"**What the slag are you doing with a fragging TANK?"** Barricade demanded.

"I traded a Volvo box truck for it. Besides, it's the ULTIMATE road rage machine. I mean, it's not like some jackass in a truck is gonna cut in front of a 1943 Sherman Tank, now ARE they?" Daniel said with a snicker.

"**So what are you going to do with it?"** Barricade asked curiously.

Daniel shrugged. "Don't really know. Mostly I got it to add to my collection of other military stuff. So far, I've got a Four ton half track truck, a B-19 bomber, that I need to finish restoring, an old jeep, and believe it or not, but I actually got my hands on an old Mig-21 from Russia, although the weapon mounts were taken off, and all the instruments have been switched over to American versions, it's still a Russian jet." He finished with a grin.

Barricade just shook his head while Rockhammer watched the two curiously. He was fairly certain that the mech and the human had a rather odd relationship that was similar to that of a pair of brothers he had once worked with. The two of them argued, bickered, and insulted each other shamelessly, but woe to any individual that started anything with either one of them. He could readily see that it was a very odd, but still strangely functional relationship between the two.

The old mech's scanners detected a large vehicle approaching, and while his optics weren't all that good, his sensors more than made up for that deficiency with incredible range and sensitivity. Designed to provide advanced warning of possible fault lines and structural weaknesses in the mining tunnels through several miles of solid rock, he could determine the exact size and weight of the vehicle by vibration alone.

"**Hey Barricade. I think we might wanna get into our alt modes, cause there's a rig comin up the road, an I think they're comin here."** Rockhammer suggested.

"That's probably Darrel with the HET. If it is, and it's big enough, then I can use it to get all three of you back to Nellis. Shit! That reminds me..." Daniel said before he pulled out his keys and separated two of them from the huge wad strung together on nearly a dozen rings.

Daniel watched with interest as the two mechs transformed back into their alt modes, and once again marveled at just how compact the strange drilling rig was when compared to his standard mode. The sound of a large diesel engine drew his attention to the road, and he went over to the gate to open it.

He had just finished swinging the second half of the gate open when the old Mac pulled into sight. Daniel had to grin at the sight of the old rig. He had to admit that Darrel kept it looking as if it had just rolled off the show room floor in spite of its age.

The gleaming pearlescent grey paint was shining in the Nevada sun and throwing off some pretty serious glares. Chrome trim, and a few extra running lights topped off the appearance of the old 1977 Mac Superliner. The chrome rims were polished to a high shine and Daniel knew that there wasn't even any dirty grease on the hitch plate. For a fellow salvage operator, Darrel kept his equipment in top condition.

Daniel waved as Darrel pulled into the lot and saw the twin stacks belch exhaust that was as black as coal as the driver goosed the huge twin turbo E-9 V-8 engine. He listened to the sounds the rig made when Darrel shut it down, and knew that while it hadn't been modified for racing, that the engine was still perfectly tuned for its intended purpose.

"Hey Buddy, how's it been going?" Daniel asked as Darrel climbed down from the truck.

"It's been going pretty go..." Darrel froze in mid sentence as he spotted the alien drilling rig from Cybertron.

"What the hell is THAT?" Darrel asked softly.

"Well, THAT is what I needed to borrow the HET for. I gotta haul that big monster over to Nellis. Not sure what they're gonna do with it, but getting it there is the main thing." Daniel answered.

"All I can say is, I'm glad I'm not a wall of rock, because that thing looks like it means business." Darrel muttered.

"No kiddin. Ain't had a chance to try it out yet, so I don't have a clue as to how fast it can dig, but with a drill head like that, I'm bettin it ain't no slouch!" Daniel replied.

"Well, here's the keys to 'The Road Warrior', don't let some punk ding him up okay?"

"Oh I won't. I'll make sure I got a crowbar handy." Daniel said with a grin.

"Oh! Hey listen. I got a line on an old Sikorsky CH-53 and a Huey. Even has the mount for the door gun. You interested?" Darrel asked suddenly.

Daniel eyed his friend suspiciously; KNOWING there had to be a catch. "TWO military choppers? Uh huh, and what are you wantin for 'em?" He asked skeptically.

"Well, see I got my hands on an old '68 GT-500. Right now it's just a hull. No engine or tranny. So I got to thinkin about where to get my hands on a drive train, and then I remembered that busted up F-1 you bought at an auction. You still haven't done anything with it have you?" Darrel answered in a sly tone.

Daniel's left eyebrow rose as he looked at Darrel as if the man had lost a PAIR of minds! Then he put it together and figured out what the man was getting at.

"You want to cram a fucking V-10 into a 1968 Shelby GT-500? Are you crazier than I am or what?" Daniel blurted out.

"Nope. I'm smart enough to know that after I get it done, you're going to want it; BAD!" Darrel answered smugly.

Daniel reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out his smokes and quickly lit one. He knew that if this were a poker game that his friend would be holding a Royal Flush. Whatever it was that Darrel wanted from him, Daniel was sure it wasn't going to be easy to let go of.

"What are you after now, Darrel?" Daniel asked ominously.

"Simple. I want that dozer of yours." Darrel stated bluntly.

"Granny! You want me to give up Granny!" Daniel blurted referring to his old bull dozer.

"Yup."

Daniel let out a sigh of frustration as he thought it over. Then he realized that with his one good wrecker serving as a casket for Chinook, and his new role as a repair technician for the Autobots, that he was pretty much out of the salvage business anyway, so why not? Then he got an idea.

"Can you have it done in two days?" Daniel asked sourly, not wanting to give away just how willing he was to make the trade.

"TWO DAYS! Are you NUTS? What am I saying, of COURSE you are!" Darrel exploded before letting out a sigh of irritation. "I think I can do it, since the interior's in good shape, but I'd need to pick up that drive train now to get it done in time."

"No problem, The F-1 is next to the A-frame. Come on, I'll help you hook it up." Daniel answered.

It took the two about ten minutes to get the totaled F-1 race car hoisted into the air and tied to the A-frame truck so it wouldn't swing while going down the road.

"So what'd you give for that Shelby anyways?" Daniel asked as Darrel was getting into the truck.

"I swapped that Cessna 180 Skyhawk for it." Darrel answered smugly as he started up and drove off.

Daniel stood there fuming silently, knowing that Darrel had gotten the better end of their trading as far as original investment went, although if he were to resell the stuff Daniel could make out like a bandit. He knew that he would never let those things go though.

Daniel watched as Darrel left the lot, before he turned back to the HET. The trailer was sectional, and the second half of it was stacked on top of the front half so it could be driven on the road without a special permit. He went over and began undoing the chains which held it in place so he could use his back hoe to unload the trailer and get it set up for the haul.

Daniel had just started heading towards his yard when Rockhammer transformed and stood up.

"**Want a hand gettin that trailer set up?"** He asked when the human turned around.

"Sure! That'd be a hell of a lot easier than gettin that back hoe over here to do it." Daniel answered quickly.

"**You grab one side and I'll get the other."** Barricade grinned as he stood next to the trailer.

Rockhammer only nodded and the two easily lifted the rear section and placed where it needed to go with no problems.

Daniel immediately started connecting the hoses and lines for the brakes and trailer lights and was about to start on the other connections when Rockhammer spoke again.

"**You want me to go grab that youngin for ya, while you wangle that thing?"** Rockhammer asked.

"Sure! That'll save some time, because I have no idea when our escort will get here, but I'm betting they're already on the way. Hey Cade! You wanna grab all the chains off the dozer and the ones off the back hoe too? I'm gonna need 'em to tie you guys down well enough to satisfy the cops when they get here. Grab my ice chest while you're at it!" Daniel replied.

As the two mechs left, Daniel could hear Barricade griping and complaining about being forced to ride on the trailer, when he was perfectly capable of driving himself.

Daniel finished hooking up the HET and lit a smoke to wait for the two mechs to return. Daniel didn't have to wait for long, and when he got there, Rockhammer laid the unconscious Skywarp on the trailer with no problem.

Daniel made short work of getting the mech secured to the trailer, before he turned to Barricade.

"I'll need you up front so 'Hammer will have room in the middle of the trailer." Daniel told him.

"**I do happen to have a holoform, so that I can easily drive myself as part of the escort you know."** Barricade growled in annoyance.

"Yeah? And just how the hell do you plan to explain to the highway patrol that you are marked for a jurisdiction that ain't anywhere CLOSE to being local? They'd take one look at your markings and know DAMNED good and well that you're out of place and want a shit load of paper work from you!" Daniel retorted.

Barricade growled angrily as he climbed onto the trailer because he knew that he didn't have that paper work on him.

"**Don't worry bout it youngin. Just enjoy a nice little ride. I've done this a few times an it ain't nothin ta worry about."** Rockhammer reassured with a chuckle.

Daniel watched with interest as the big mech folded himself into his alt mode and somehow ended up on the trailer in the process. He wasn't sure exactly how that had been done, but he wasn't about to question it right then because there were several vehicles pulling into the lot. Daniel looked over at them a little apprehensively as he wondered exactly what they'd seen. Deciding to try to play it off, Daniel got another length of chain and started securing both the alien drilling rig and the police interceptor.

"What in THE world have you got loaded on this trailer?" Someone asked from behind the salvage operator.

Daniel turned around to see a Lieutenant with the Nevada State Highway Dept. standing there looking at the three pieces of cargo in stark disbelief.

Daniel's mind raced for a split second before he came up with something to say in response.

"I'll give you two options, and you can pick which one you want to believe, Officer." Daniel said with a grin.

"The first option is that all three of them are giant alien robots from the planet Cybertron. The second option is that some director from Hollywood wants 'em for some project of his." Daniel stated without stopping the process of tying Rockhammer down to the trailer.

"Huh! That figures. Did you happen to build these yourself?" The officer asked.

"Nope. They're all recent acquisitions, and all I know is that I got to get 'em down to Nellis ASAP. I'm sorry about the lack of notice on this, but I just got the call a little earlier." Daniel replied.

The officer gave a disgruntled sigh. "Yeah, I know how that one goes! The Boss says jump, and you'd better be in mid air when you ask 'how high'."

"Pretty much." Daniel answered as he finished strapping the mechs down with the chains.

"Now, what papers do I need to sign? I've never done this before, so you know more about it than I do." Daniel said reasonably.

The officer requested to see Daniel's driver's license, and demanded that the man fill out the paper work for the permits.

"Okay, you're not certified to drive commercially, so do you want to tell me how this doesn't qualify as commercial?"

"Simple. I'm going from my junkyard to Nellis Air Force Base. I am delivering three pieces of equipment to Nellis and that's that." Daniel said simply.

"Fair enough." The officer replied.

Twenty minutes later Daniel was on the road. The Mac Superliner was purring along like a champ. It was slow going, because the escort had to clear two lanes for him to use and block off any intersections that he needed to cross. The fifty two foot trailer with more than a dozen axels on it wasn't something that turned very easily, or quickly.

The trip to Nellis took nearly two hours because of the speeds they were forced to use, but eventually they rolled up to the gate of the famed Air Force base. The officer leading the escort got out of his vehicle and walked back to the rig where Daniel was climbing out of the cab.

"I hope you got the paper work to get in here, because we can't help you with that one." The officer stated with a grin.

"Don't I know it! I had some problems the last time, but I think I'm gonna be okay for now. Thanks for the escort Officer." Daniel replied easily.

Daniel was showing his ID to the gate guards as the officers left. The MP's guarding the gate looked over the vehicles to make sure that there were no unauthorized passengers before sending him on through.

Daniel drove through the valley complex that comprised the Air Force base, and parked the Mac Superliner next to his oversized wreckers. He quickly got the chains undone and grinned as Barricade transformed bitching loudly about having to ride on the trailer the entire time.

Rockhammer was unchained next, and Daniel watched closely to figure out just how the mech was able to move from the trailer to standing on the ground without taking a single step. The salvage operator was more than a little frustrated by the fruitless effort, when he failed to spot just how it was accomplished. With a shake of his head, Daniel turned to unchain Skywarp.

As soon as Daniel got the seeker unhooked, Rockhammer reached down and picked him up to place the unconscious seeker over his shoulder.

"**Now, just where do you plan to put this youngin?"** Rockhammer asked skeptically.

"Uh, well... I guess we'd better take him inside, and find out what to do with him." Daniel answered.

Daniel and Barricade opened the main doors to the hanger, and saw that it was empty but for the tables that had been used for the conference earlier. Daniel scratched his head as he thought about what to do next.

"Well, if it's still open, I guess we can stick him in the same room where Starglide was. Then we can tell Big Rig and the others when we see 'em." Daniel finally suggested.

"**That sounds good to me. Besides, Ratchet will need to remove or deactivate his teleporting system before we reactivate him."** Barricade commented.

"Yeah! No SHIT! That poofing crap was UNREAL!" Daniel added irritably.

"**Hah! I'll bet that's the LAST time you try to use a crowbar on one of us!"** Barricade retorted smugly.

"Like HELL! It worked didn't it? I never let go of a good thing as long as it works, and THAT little method has been PROVEN!" Daniel shot back as he motioned the two mechs onto the lift.

Daniel closed the safety gates and started the descent. When it finally stopped fifteen minutes later, he opened the safety gates and started to lead the way to the same storage room that Starglide had lain in for so many years.

"**Ya know, I believe I've worked mines that were smaller than this place is. This complex fills this whole stinkin valley! How long did it take you folks ta build this thing?"** Rockhammer asked as he looked at the readings from his sensors.

"**You... you can tell how big this facility is from your scanners?"** Barricade demanded in disbelief.

"**Yeah, but what ya gotta remember is that my sensors are built ta be used in underground tunnels. That way, I can tell where the fault strata, and stress fractures are. Ain't much use in bein a prospector ifn I get killed by a cave in, now is it?"** Rockhammer replied.

Barricade gave a noncommittal grunt, while Daniel noted that the sensors on the big mech were better than the ones used by Optimus. As he made the turn to see the storage room at the end of the large corridor, Daniel was relieved to see that the door was still open.

"Okay 'Hammer. Just lay him down in there, and I'll get Bones to take a look at him later. In the meantime, I need to get back up top and check on my BBQ." Daniel stated.

Rockhammer did as he was asked, but wasn't actually happy about it. He still wasn't convinced of what he'd been told, but he was willing to play along for a while until he found reason to believe otherwise. He'd been around humans long enough that his sensors could detect a lie with no problem, so he knew that Daniel was telling what he knew to be the truth. The only question that remained was, had Daniel been told the truth?

Silence reigned as the unlikely trio rode the lift back up to the surface. Once they reached the hanger, they still hadn't encountered anyone, so Daniel led the way back outside. He walked around the hanger to the left and spotted the flatbed trailer with his BBQ pit on it smoking merrily. He walked over to the pit and opened it to check the meats. Almost everything was looking good, except for that odd brand of hot dogs he'd bought. He still wasn't too sure about those, but they were better than nothing. Suddenly he got an odd idea, now he just wondered if he could get the cooperation to pull it off.

"Hey, you two come here. I got an idea." Daniel told them with a grin.

When the two mechs leaned in close, Daniel filled them in on his plans. As he began to elaborate and explain his idea, Barricade voiced a few objections before he finally agreed, and then both mechs started to grin before Rockhammer burst out laughing. Whatever doubts he might have had were eased as the human laid out his daring plans.

Daniel had been tending to the pit for about fifteen minutes when he heard the hanger doors start to open. Instantly the man turned to Barricade and started yelling.

"I don't give a damn what ya say! I caught it, and I'm keepin it! Pure and simple!" Daniel yelled while waving a pair of tongs at the black and white mech.

"**He is NOT a slagging PET!"** Barricade bellowed just as loud.

"Too fuckin bad! I'm gonna make a pet out of him! Just watch and see if I don't!" Daniel yelled even louder.

"**I don't care if you DID catch him! You can't have him as a slagging pet!"** Barricade yelled back.

"**Both of you be quiet this instant!"** Starglide interrupted as she raised her voice over both of them.

"I don't care what ya say! I caught it, and I get to keep it! End of story!" Daniel said shaking a finger at Barricade and making sure to get the last word in.

"**You need to be silent or I promise that you will sincerely regret it."** Starglide told Daniel, before she turned to Barricade.

"**Seekers are NOT pets!"** Barricade yelled angrily as he ignored Starglide's instructions.

"**HOOOLD IT! BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP! I MEAN NOW!"** Starglide bellowed at the top of her vocalizer.

Daniel's eyes widened in shock as the BBQ pit seemed to vibrate from the force and sheer volume of the roar that had erupted from the femme.

Starglide turned to Barricade with her optics narrowed dangerously and she was OBVIOUSLY irate when she did.

"**Now. You are going to tell me EXACTLY what you mean by that last statement!"** Starglide demanded in a softer but still dangerous tone that said she wasn't playing.

"**He wants to keep a SEEKER as a pet! I keep…"** Barricade began before he was interrupted.

"**He wants to WHAT?"** Starglide yelled in surprise before she turned and knelt down to face the demented little human that seemed determined to cause trouble.

"**Exactly WHICH seeker are you talking about keeping as a pet? And you had BETTER tell me the truth!"** Starglide insisted in irritation.

"Let's see. What's his name again? Skywash? Cloudwarp? Something like that. Anyway, his name ain't important, cuz I plan on changing it to George anyway." Daniel said with a grin.

Starglide stood up as her processors whirled in confusion, then she suddenly realized exactly who Daniel was referring to, and she became even angrier.

"**First of all, what makes you think that you can keep Skywarp as a pet, and second of all, WHY would you want to change his name to George of all things?"** Starglide demanded in exasperation.

"I caught him so I get to keep him! I'm gonna change his name to George, so I can hug him and pet him and call him George until he screams!" Daniel replied with a smile while doing an impression from the old Bugs Bunny cartoon.

"**Oh, and you don't think that someone else might have something to say about that? I'm sure that since Barricade helped…"** Starglide was saying when she was cut off.

"**Don't you EVEN get me involved in that! The only thing I had to do with it was that he showed up to talk to me. Then he made the mistake of calling Daniel a 'squishy' after that glitch got his crowbar. I tried to warn him, but Nooo, he wouldn't listen!"** Barricade stated defensively.

"**HE caught Skywarp? By himself?"** Starglide demanded in disbelief.

"Yup! Sure did. I even said yesterday, that sooner or later, there'd be a fight between me and one of you guys that nobody'd be able to break up. Well it finally happened, and you SEE who came out on top! I'll give you a clue, it ain't that funny lookin jet that I plan to tame either. He's gonna make for a kick ASS pet jet!" Daniel said maliciously and finished with a grin.

Starglide stared down at the demented little man for a few moments as she thought things over. The fact that he would even consider attacking a seeker to begin with was enough to short out a processor, but to think that he'd somehow WON, was enough to short out an entire processing CORE!

Deciding that a few additional opinions might be useful she summoned the rest of the Autobots on her comm system, but deliberately neglected to tell them why.

She looked down at the little man who was wearing a smug expression as he turned back to tend his pit. So calm, so self confident, and so far BEYOND irritating that it didn't even bear mentioning, it was at once obvious to her that this strange little human was a truly supreme annoyance!

"Daniel, are you causing problems AGAIN? Look! I've already told you that if you keep this up, that you'll be swappin that crowbar of yours for a sledgehammer and I MEAN it!" SecDef Keller said angrily.

"**Apparently, he used that crowbar of his to capture Skywarp! Now he wants the mech for a PET!"** Starglide blurted in exasperation.

"**Skywarp? Bout TIME someone did something about that rotten slagger!"** Ironhide said as he came out of the hanger.

Daniel looked over at the black mech and his jaw dropped in shock. He was completely unable to believe what his eyes were clearly showing him. Suddenly, loud raucous laughter was echoing through the valley as Daniel fell over holding his stomach.

"**Yeah, yeah, yeah! Laugh it up you little glitch! I owe you one for this!"** Ironhide complained loudly.

"**Well... I'll... bet... the... next... time... he tells... you... to scan... something... you... won't... scan... something... different!"** Barricade taunted in between shouted peals of laughter.

Not quite sure what the two were laughing about, SecDef Keller turned to look at the weapons specialist and choked.

There it was. Right out in the open. In plain sight. Right where human genitals would be was both the trailer hitch and the pair of black Truck Nutz! The hitch resembled nothing less than a crazily bent and weirdly shaped steel penis!

Starglide looked from Ironhide to Daniel who was still laughing, then to Barricade, before looking back at Ironhide.

"**I believe that you neglected to tell me that he instructed you to scan something different."** Starglide said coldly.

"**Like that makes a slagging difference!"** Ironhide complained.

"**Oh, but it does! It makes a HUGE difference! If you scanned the wrong thing, then that is YOUR mistake, NOT his, and he FULLY deserves to be able to laugh at your expense for making that mistake! Now, I strongly suggest that you LOSE that added equipment before Mikeala or Maigan sees it!"** Starglide berated.

"Oh you're WAY too late on that one!" Mikeala laughed as she snapped a photo with her cell phone. "I'm hoping to see what it looks like when he tries to hook onto a trailer while standing up!" She said laughing even louder while using her cell phone to take another picture.

Maigan, who was standing next to her started snicker loudly at that one while Daniel began kicking his feet on the ground as he pictured exactly how such an act would look.

Starglide's optics shot wide as she looked down at the two teenaged young women before she turned back to Ironhide and addressed him with a deadly menace in her tone.

"**Get. Rid. Of. It. Now."** Starglide bit out in a growl.

"**I think he oughta hang on ta his little symbol of mech hood!"** Jazz said with a laugh.

"**I think you need to stay clear of THIS one, Jazz!" **Starglide warned.

Realizing that he'd lost his argument before it had ever begun, Ironhide reformed his armor in a brilliant flash of blue light as he scowled at the still laughing salvage operator.

Daniel had seen what had just happened and he started laughing even harder.

"**NOW what are you laughing about?"** Starglide demanded with a shake of her head.

"His jewels just disappeared like a bolt out of the blue, LITTERALLY!" Daniel said before he started laughing again.

Starglide stood there, staring at the deranged human until he stopped laughing. After about five minutes, when Daniel got to his feet while still snickering occasionally, Starglide knelt down to look him right in his eyes.

"**Now, about this seeker that you caught..."** She began.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. I can't keep the jet. That poofing thing he did was REALLY kick ass though!" Daniel said interrupting Starglide. "On the other hand. The rule of finder's keeper's; loser's weeper's still applies don't it?"

"I'm thinking that it would depend on what you found. I'm kinda feeling like the Lady here and havin doubts about ANYTHING you do!" SecDef Keller stated doubtfully.

"**What did you find, and why should we let you keep it?"** Starglide asked curiously.

Barricade just slapped his right hand against his face and muttered softly.

"**Would you care to repeat THAT? I don't think I heard you correctly!"** Starglide demanded once more in anger as she rounded on her creation.

"**I said he wants to keep the other one."** Barricade said softly as he stared at the ground.

"**OTHER ONE! What other one?"** Starglide demanded as she rounded on Daniel even as Optimus demanded the same thing.

"Uh... That'd be... uh... THAT one!" Daniel said pointing towards the side of the hanger where Rockhammer was just striding forward.

"**Now just outa curiosity there, youngin, what exactly would you do with a mech like me if'n ya DID get ta keep me?"** Rockhammer demanded casually.

"Oh THAT'S an EASY one! I'd have you run interference to keep HER off my ass!" Daniel said with a grin as he pointed at Starglide.

"Sorry Cade!" Maigan suddenly called out before she whapped her uncle in the back of his head.

Both Daniel and Barricade grabbed the backs of their heads, and Barricade grinned at Maigan. **"Believe me, I understand."** He told the girl. **"I think he deserves far more than that though."**

"**Oh, he's not the ONLY one! But I'll speak to you later. Right now, I plan on discussing his little attitude problem."** Starglide stated seriously.

"Listen, Lady, my attitude does NOT have a problem!" Daniel commented with a snarky grin.

"**Really? Just what makes you so firm in that belief when you continue to irritate and annoy EVERYONE around you?"** Starglide demanded as she bent down to get optic to eye with the salvage operator.

"Simple. People leave me the hell alone. Which is EXACTLY the way I like it!" Daniel said with a genuine smile.

Starglide grabbed both sides of her head as she stood up in complete annoyed exasperation. _**"Don't kill him; he's just a sparkling. Do NOT kill him!"**_ Starglide reminded herself in an ancient version of the Cybertronian language.

"_**If'n ya don't wanna kill him, then at least let me loan ya my razor strop so's ya can bust his butt a good one!"**_ Rockhammer replied in the same language.

Without even pausing to think about what had just been said, Starglide immediately extended her left hand towards the big mech. **"Hand it over. I'll return whatever's left when I get done."** She said in English.

Daniel's eyes widened as he saw Rockhammer pass over the razor strop, and even though he hadn't understood a word of what the two had said; he easily recognized what was being passed along. Instantly his left hand shot out to reach under the smoke box of the BBQ pit and grab the modified crowbar that had been placed there during a previous use of the pit.

Starglide had fully expected and prepared herself for some type of angry reaction from the strange little annoying human, but her optics widened in disbelief as Daniel transferred a wickedly modified crowbar that had numerous serrated spikes on the hooked end to his right hand, and used his left to grab a two pound sledgehammer that had one side ground down into a nasty looking spike.

Daniel adjusted his grip on both the crowbar in his right hand and the sledgehammer in his left as he cocked his head first to the right, and then to the left cracking his neck in a loud series of pops. Then he looked back up at Starglide with a completely blank expression on his face.

"**Oh, slag."** Barricade muttered when he saw the situation.

"Damnit Daniel, don't you DARE!" Maigan yelled angrily as she stepped in between Daniel and Starglide and started trying to push her uncle back. When she saw that he wasn't cooperating with her the way he usually would she realized just how angry he'd gotten.

"GODDAMMIT! BOTH of you need to back off, now!" She said angrily.

She looked down at the human standing there, and she knew that there was no fear contained in the mind behind that seemingly blank expression. The gall of the human, the sheer ADAUCITY was astounding to her! Throughout the course of her life, there had been a very, very few bots who would dare to stand before her in such a direct and challenging manner. That this insignificant human could so boldly and casually do so was unthinkable. True, she had seen first hand how readily the man had attacked a medic who was sworn to avoid harming others if it was possible, but to stand and face her, a sniper of unparalleled excellence, the femme who had taught her creation the arts he'd used to become the foremost wet work specialist on Cybertron, but this was different, now he calmly stood there as if ready to send her to the matrix itself!

Red symbols of warning flashed their urgent messages in her HUD, some were programs which dictated that this human was no more than a recalcitrant sparkling, others strangely enough, indicated that this human was a potential threat. Her battle computer was actively analyzing the weapons in the human's hands, and began indicating various warnings in regard to those weapons. She knew that he had made them to use against other humans, and against such fragile bodies, they would prove more than lethal, because her battle computer was now illustrating various possible points of her frame on which those weapons could be used effectively.

Starglide knew that the others were observing, even as she knew that Ratchet and Bumblebee had just exited the hanger, but this was between her and the human. Her thoughts raced with the speed imparted by the activation of her battle computer, and as she studied the human, she realized that if this situation proceeded as indicated by the man's attitude that there was no way that this would end without violence. The human was far too stubborn to be cajoled or coerced, and too irate to heed any attempt at reason.

If she were to actually try to succeed with a type of corporal punishment that the human would no doubt find humiliating in the extreme, she could well find herself with an enemy that she dare not turn her back on. A much more likely outcome would be that she would severely injure or even kill the man, which was not desirable. Then there was a final possibility, in which he exploited his knowledge of her frame to cause crippling damage, before he too was critically injured. None of these outcomes were warranted, not over mere words. She had no intention of killing or even crippling him when all he needed was a different attitude, and certainly not in front of his niece.

Knowing that any sudden move would most likely provoke one of the outcomes that she DIDN'T want, Starglide slowly and deliberately leaned down to get closer to the human.

"**You don't back down from ANYTHING do you?"** She demanded.

"Never have. Never will." Daniel answered in a near growl.

"**Your courage is admirable, although it is also EXTREMELY foolish! One day you shall learn what it truly means to provoke a Cybertronian, and when that day arrives, you will most sincerely wish that you had listened to me. I know far more than you think, and there is a reason that I was once the Air Commander of Cybertron. This war that the Decepticons have caused has cost us EVERYTHING, including our world, and if you would simply stop to THINK for just a moment, then you would realize that they plan to do the same to THIS one! The Decepticons have destroyed almost everything that I once held dear. My home, my sparkmate, and even my very WORLD are all dead now. I do not wish to see the same thing happen here. I will grant that thanks to your efforts and skills that I have been able to recover one of the few treasures I had in my life, but that does NOT excuse the way you are acting! WE are not your enemies! WE have not come to bring death and destruction to this planet. We are here to help, but we can't, unless YOU allow us to, and that can not happen when you are constantly antagonizing and provoking us!"** Starglide said using a reasonable tone of voice hoping to get through to the irritating little man.

Daniel shook his head in disgust. "You know, everybody wants to blame shit on me. First of all, what happened between me and Barricade... was BETWEEN me and Barricade! It should have STAYED that way! Tackleberry should have kept his nose out of it. Oh wait... he don't have one. He should have kept his FACE out of it! We weren't botherin ANYBODY! And before you say anything, I'll bet half the copper in my junkyard that you don't ALWAYS get along just peachy keen with everybody. Now as far as those Decepticons go... they show up, and I'll have somthin for 'em. It may be illegal as all hell, but it'll damn sure get the job done! I didn't ask to get caught up in this crap, but I'm tryin to make the best of it, and if that ain't good enough for ya, then there's the road... USE IT!" Daniel said angrily as he turned back to his pit.

Seeing that the two were now talking instead of facing off and getting ready to kill each other Maigan decided to back out of the mess while she could. She'd only taken a few steps when she found herself being grabbed and lifted off the ground by a fairly large gray hand.

"**Might be best ta stay outa that mess for a bit."** Jazz told her softly as he too stepped back to get the girl out of any possible line of fire.

Starglide looked down at Daniel in mild surprise. She had rather prepared herself for some type of hostile response from him, but the angry if reasonable reply, seemed out of place somehow.

She was about to say something further, when a strange sensation drew her attention over to the mech that Daniel had brought to the base.

To unexpectedly learn that everything one had believed in, relied on, strived for, along with the very world one loved and called home was forever gone, was a truly devastating blow and the expression on the mech's faceplates told of his sudden loss very well.

Starglide felt her spark sink as she realized that this mech who somehow seemed familiar had known absolutely NOTHING about the current state of Cybertron.

"**You didn't know about the war; did you?"** Starglide asked him gently.

"**D… Daniel told me there was a war going on, and that the youngin Skywarp was a Decepticon, but he didn't… didn't."** Rockhammer began, but the rest of his words were lost in a voiceless silence as he was unable to finish.

"I'm sorry, Rockhammer. I didn't want you to learn about this like that. That's why I only mentioned the war. You might wanna have a seat there Buddy, cuz the rest of it gets a HELL of a lot worse." Daniel said heavily.

Starglide watched in a bit of shock as the large mech sat down in a heap, in fact he'd nearly fallen, and she realized that somehow this mech hadn't been aware of ANYTHING that had occurred to start the horrid war. Then she realized the living embodiment of annoyance known as Daniel had somehow known that this would happen, and that he'd SOMEHOW shown enough compassion to want to break it to the mech slowly.

_**Author's notes. Please give a big Thanks to Vader's Bane! Beta, editor, sounding board, research specialist, and idea source; he's done it all, and me and these stinking plot demons couldn't have gotten this far without him!**_


	14. Chapter 14

ROH Chapter 14

Daniel started over to the large mech, but stopped when Rockhammer shook his head. The look on the big mech's face said it all. The loss, the terrible aching loss that had slowly insinuated itself, and which others had lived with and grown accustomed to over the countless long years, was hitting this mech all at once. Rockhammer struggled to get power to limbs that suddenly seemed to have lost all function. His processors were unable to fight the painful, deep, aching despair that clawed at his spark.

He'd just heard all at once how he'd lost his friends, his family, his home, and even his very world. It was too much to accept at once. Tears of energon started sliding down metallic cheeks as an overwhelming grief struck at both the spark and processors of the big mech. Rockhammer didn't want to be with those he'd only just met, not after suddenly learning that everyone he'd ever cared about was now dead. It took him a few minutes to gain enough control of his systems that he was able to get to his feet, and when he did, he stumbled off in a direction away from the others to be alone.

Among the various pairs of optics watching the big mech wander off to be alone with his grief were those belonging to Starglide. In a small way she knew a little of how the mech felt. Suddenly hearing that the Allspark had been destroyed to keep it out of Decepticon hands had been a horrendous blow to her, but then, she'd known about the war and the catastrophic losses caused by it long before now. Her spark ached in sympathy for Rockhammer, and what made it worse was that he still had yet to be told about the destruction of the one thing which might have helped. As much as she didn't want to do so, she could only imagine what that must feel like to the large mech.

Daniel watched the big mech stumble off as he tried to come to terms with the loss and grief that he must be felling. He was more than just a little jealous of the mech who went seeking a little privacy. He knew how he felt about losing those he cared about, and could only wish that he was able to experience that same sense of loss. He knew there wasn't really anything he could say to the big mech that would help, but he realized that he might be able to keep it from happening again. He turned and tapped Starglide on the leg.

"Ya know. The next time you wanna chew my ass out, and rip me a new one, just make sure that you do it in private so no one ELSE has to hear it!" Daniel said quietly as soon as Starglide looked down at him.

Nearly a million different thoughts went whirling through her processors. Quite a few of those thoughts were in direct conflict with the emotions that the human evoked in that moment. She could hardly believe that such an obnoxious individual would even consider forget about actually caring about the feelings of anyone else. Her optics narrowed as she once more appraised the man shrewdly. The tone of voice combined with the numerous glances in the direction that Rockhammer had gone, clearly demonstrated the man's obvious concern. She had to admit that she didn't really know the man all that well, since she'd only known and interacted with him for a few hours, and she was now forced to reevaluate her previous assessment of the man's personality. Apparently, there was more to this human than just the obnoxious and irritating attitude that he so readily displayed to everyone, and that meant that it would take some time to accurately gauge the man's true personality. Daniel was right about one thing though, she should have taken him aside to before attempting to correct him, but the problem was, she kept thinking of him and the other humans as sparklings to be corrected as such; meaning as soon as possible whether in public or not.

Optimus looked around at both the bots and the humans to see that each face held concern and sympathy for the large mech. He knew, deep in his spark, he knew that he'd tried to avoid this war and its consequences for his people, but it hadn't been possible. There were very few things that he wished he could change about the past, but this war topped the list. He couldn't claim to know exactly how Rockhammer felt at this moment, but he knew how devastated he'd been when the first report came to his attention. The opening shots of the war had included the near complete destruction of an entire city and a vast majority of its inhabitants. His gaze drifted over the three bots who been victims of that opening assault. The two mechs were watching Rockhammer for the same reason he had. Starglide on the other hand, was staring speculatively at the human who'd somehow, not only found the mech, but also had brought the mech to the base. Hoping that he might somehow be able to console the newcomer, Optimus left to follow Rockhammer.

John Keller, the Secretary of Defense for the United States, stepped over to where Daniel was closing the BBQ pit.

"Talk about a joke gone wrong." Daniel muttered sourly.

"What joke are you talkin about?" Keller asked puzzled.

"Both of 'em. Me keepin the jet, and then the one about me keepin Rockhammer. Hell, Cade, Hammer, and me even planned it out! Then next thing you know, someone's pissed enough to say shit they shouldn't have." Daniel sighed heavily. "You know, this shit is startin to piss me off enough to go downstairs and take a grinder to that sunovabitch until he talks before I kill him!"

"**Then the part about you capturing Skywarp with that slaggin crowbar of yours wasn't a joke; was it?"** Ironhide asked quickly.

"Nope! Even got the sore as hell shoulder to prove it. But I guarantee one thing. He'll damned sure tell us what we want to know, or he can fuckin suffer!" Daniel stated in a warning snarl.

"Now you just hold on there a minute! The rules of the Geneva Convention..."

"Don't fuckin apply! First, they ain't human! Second, they didn't sign the agreement! Third, they're already makin plans to wipe us out! Fourth, I'm pretty sure they regard us as some kind of germs or something! All of that means that they won't have any problems when it comes down to torturing one of us! The want a war of extinction, then they can have one! But they better realize real damn quick, that there's more of us then there are of them. We can AFFORD a war of attrition if it comes down to it! I was THERE; remember? I HEARD what Jackass said when he popped Barricade, and if that's the way they wanna do things, then I'm game to play right along with 'em!" Daniel snarled angrily.

Starglide knelt down to get on Daniel's level while she spoke to him. **"I will admit that you raise some valid points. However, if we allow you to use force while questioning Skywarp, then we become no better than the Decepticons."**

"War doesn't decide or even care who's right or wrong; war only decides who's left!" Daniel retorted instantly. "I don't know about you, but I don't plan on letting the human race become DEAD RIGHT in this one!"

"**While that happens to be an admirable sentiment, it is also wrong. What you say about war is true to an extent, but this happens to be one of principles and morals, as well as the other aspects that the Decepticons wish to include. I for one would not want to live with myself if I resorted to the methods that they would employ."** Starglide said firmly.

"Well, you know what? I may not be too happy with what I do to make sure of winning this thing, but I figure that I can live with that a hell of a lot better than what the result will be if we DON'T fight by their rules! With Cybertron dead, they need real estate, and the only place I know of that fits the bill is right HERE! Well if they want it, they can 'Come and Take It!' as my fellow Texans once said at the Alamo! I'll give 'em a taste of what for that'll make damned sure they don't wanna come back for seconds!" Daniel retorted.

"**I will readily admit that your courage, and your willingness to stand and fight for your world is both admirable, and necessary, but there ARE distinct advantages to doing this the right way and following the principles that we both seem to revere. A perfect example of that is standing right there.**" Starglide said as she pointed at Barricade.

"**If one were to follow the methods that you just suggested, then he would not be standing there to assist in our efforts to defend this world. Frenzy is another example of that. With the Allspark destroyed, Cybertron rendered lifeless, and Megatron now dead; it's more than possible that we will be able to recruit additional assistance from within the Decepticon ranks, but we CAN'T do that, if they believe they'll be killed out of hand!"** Starglide said reasonably.

"The Lady's right you know. Defectors can be a pain, but they can also be a big help too." SecDef Keller added in.

"**Exactly! What greater victory can we achieve than that of winning our enemies over to our own cause? Their strengths, their knowledge, and their skills will become ours! That alone presents a tremendous advantage, and it's one that THEY can not exploit. The morals that we live and fight by give us an advantage that our enemy can't compete with, but it's up to US to USE that advantage!"** Starglide explained in a tone of triumph.

Daniel looked into the sincere optics of Starglide and sighed in frustration. "All right. Then just how do you wanna handle that joker downstairs?"

"**Ohhh... I think I can come up with something that will prove quite effective."** Starglide said sweetly.

A soft whistle sounded a short distance behind Daniel, and he turned around to see who'd made it. The sight of Robert Epps, Capt. Lennox, Col. Anderson, and Gen Mallory walking towards the trailer greeted him.

"I don't know what you got cooking on that thing, but I'll tell you that it smells wonderful." Epps said with a smile.

"What all you got on there anyway?" Gen. Mallory asked interestedly.

It was Daniel's turn to grin, and he did so proudly. "I got five briskets, a few dozen porterhouse steaks, chickens, burgers, sausages, and I even picked up a few hot dogs for my friends."

"What's the occasion?" Will demanded with wide eyes at the list of food.

"Let's see... We got first contact with alien robots. An official, even if it's STILL a secret, alliance with those same robots, PLUS the fact that we done saved several of 'em. Besides, Maigan asked me to." Daniel finished sardonically.

"Yeah. I was wondering if you were going to include that little fact. Because we both know that you wouldn't be doing this if I hadn't asked you to." Maigan piped up.

"Looks like we just found out who's wearing the pants in your outfit." Gen. Mallory snickered.

"Yup. She's the beauty, and the brains of my little operation." Daniel said instantly before he pointed his right thumb over his shoulder at Maigan. "Beauty, brains, and finally the mayhem." Daniel said as he pointed at himself in closing.

"Truer words." Epps began when he was cut off by Starglide.

"**I don't believe that you have ever uttered a more profound truth while in my presence."** Starglide said in a wondering tone.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Daniel retorted sourly as he looked over at his niece.

"Oh! By the way. Since you seem to have forgotten. I stopped and picked up some potato salad, cold slaw, pinto beans, green beans, and corn on the cob. I figure we might as well do it up right, since we're doing it to begin with." Maigan said with a smile.

"See what I mean!" Daniel said smugly as he pointed at his niece.

"Yeah, leave it to someone else to think of the good stuff to go with the BBQ!" Epps piped up.

"Okay, that's enough of that! Now speaking of thinking. Has anyone figured out where the hell we're gonna put this repair bay?" Daniel asked sourly.

"Sure have. It'll need to be quickly accessed from the surface, and we'll probably need to be able to transfer some of the mechs from the ship, so I picked out a huge room that was intended to be an underground hanger. It's got four separate lifts for surface access, and it's right off the underground airstrip." General Mallory answered easily.

"Sounds perfect! Let's go take a look since the food won't be ready for another couple of hours yet." Daniel said eagerly.

General Mallory led the way; followed by the other two officers, the enlisted soldier, Daniel, Mikeala, and Maigan. Pure curiosity prompted Starglide to follow them to see the new medbay for herself. She was certain that Ironhide, Bumblebee, and Jazz decided to follow for the same reason. As the group entered the hangar to use the lift to venture underground, they encountered Ratchet, and Daniel promptly invited the medic along to see what modifications the room would need.

"**I think you should know that this war is not something that any of us wanted. I tried to do everything I could think of to avoid it, and not only did I fail in those efforts, but this war has now encompassed this word and its inhabitants. It doesn't help matters any that the instigator is now dead. All it means is that others will try to forcibly assume command of the Decepticons and continue the war to satisfy their own agendas. The Decepticons have taken many things away from all of us with this war. Our history, our home, our civilization, our way of life, and far too many of our friends and loved ones. I know what pain fills your spark, and it saddens me to know that there is nothing that can be done to assuage that pain. All I can say is that revenge is not an answer, and never has been."** Optimus said heavily.

"**I know, an it don't make anything better ta hear that everyone I knew is dead. I was gonna return to Cybertron to let them know that this world will be ready for trade in another hundred vorns or so. I don't mind stayin here. I like the place, but for Primus' sake WHY would this world become involved in a war on Cybertron?"** Rockhammer asked in grief.

"**We were betrayed by Megatron who sought to rule Cybertron for himself. He wanted a foundation that he could expand into a galactic empire. His first attacks were against femmes and sparklings. By eliminating them, and gaining control of the Allspark, he could ensure that all new creations would be loyal to him alone. Bumblebee launched the Allspark into space on an unknown trajectory in the hope that it would be forever lost to Megatron. It landed here, and it was found, first by Megatron, and then by others. Both Megatron and the Allspark were found and experimented on by some of the humans who inhabit this world. These events culminated in a last ditch battle that took place several days ago. At the end, it was a human named Sam who chose to place the Allspark in Megatron's chest instead of mine after I asked him to sacrifice my own life to destroy the Allspark and prevent this war from ravaging the rest of this galaxy. The American Government has told us that we are welcome here, but that a majority of their people are not yet ready to learn of us. So we will remain a secret to most while we try to rebuild what little is left to us."** Optimus said gravely his tone heavy with his own grief.

"**I just don't believe it. I mean, sure, when I left there were some rumors that Megatronus Prime was going to try something, but everyone was sure that the other Primes wouldn't let him get very far with it."** Rockhammer said sadly before he shook his head. **"But ta find out that a war like that is still going on... all this time... Is there ANYTHING still left of Cybertron?"** Rockhammer asked forlornly.

"**Cybertron still exists, but with the Allspark destroyed, it is a world without life, and is unable to sustain us. But I don't understand what rumors you mean. Megatron was never a Prime."** Optimus said in confusion.

"**Wait! What do you mean other Primes?"** Optimus blurted in near stunned surprise as he realized what the big mech had said.

"**You know... the other twelve Primes."** Rockhammer answered candidly.

"**Are... Are you referring to the Original Thirteen? They are supposed to be a legend, nothing more than a myth. Are you saying that those Primes are REAL?"** Optimus demanded in disbelief.

"**I don't know nothin bout this Original Thirteen of yours, but I know of the thirteen Primes that were made by the hand of Primus himself, and I'll admit that I even worked with a few of em."** Rockhammer replied honestly.

Optimus gaped up at the mech in pure astonishment. **"Just how long have you been here?"**

"**I've been on this planet just over five hundred million years. Why?"** Rockhammer responded.

"**Then you really DID know the Original Primes? For ages now, there has been only one Prime at a time with myself being the current one, and the Matrix is only passed on after the death of the previous Prime."** Optimus said in confusion.

"**One Prime at a time? How in the world did you ever learn ta use a Matrix with only one Prime?"** Rockhammer demanded in disbelief.

"**What do mean, learn to use it? It merely holds the knowledge of the Previous Primes."** Optimus responded gravely.

"**Oh no it DON'T! It'll do a damned sight more'n that! Each Matrix is able to link with the others being held by any Prime with similar goals. With the Matrix, you can feel the nearby presence of another Prime. That's why all the Primes were siblings, because they were all LINKED by a Matrix! Any Prime could use the Matrix to contact another across entire galaxies. But without a Matrix, and a Prime ta teach ya, there ain't no way ya could a known what all it can do. Look, concentrate on the Matrix and think about another Prime that might be close."** Rockhammer instructed.

Optimus shuttered his optics and started focusing on the Matrix that had become a part of his systems. He felt the strange, almost otherworldly sense of power that had always accompanied the activation of the Matrix, and he sent his thoughts flowing into it. He focused his thoughts and tried to concentrate on another Prime. He both felt and sensed the flow of power from the Matrix, and then he was suddenly aware of an open communications port, but before he could examine that any further, his primary comm system activated.

"_**...imus Prime. This is Blaster to Optimus Prime. If you try to respond to this message, I will not be able to receive that response. I am broadcasting under my own power. The comm systems of the Ark are heavily damaged and can't be repaired until we land. The Decepticons used astroidal strikes to damage the Ark. At this time, we are all functional except for Prowl. Wheeljack believes that it might be spark related, but that is unconfirmed. We will arrive in orbit in approximately thirty-six native hours. I will repeat this message each hour for the next twelve to ensure reception. This is Autobot Blaster signing off."**_

The optics of Optimus Prime snapped open in joy. This was incredible news! The Autobot leader turned to stare at Rockhammer in joyous disbelief. **"Did you hear that? Did you catch that message?"**

"**Fraid not. The sender used some kind a encryption key that I'm not familiar with, so I couldn't decode it. What'd it say?"** Rockhammer asked curiously.

"**My apologies Rockhammer, I'll get you the encryption codes today. In the meantime. The Ark will land as scheduled, and we are supremely fortunate that there is only one casualty on board, in spite of the heavy damage the ship must have taken. Finally, the chance to give out some GOOD news for a change!"** Optimus concluded happily. **"Care to join me while I go tell the others?"**

"**Sure, why not?"** Rockhammer replied as he realized that his grief would have to be set aside until later, because for now, there was work to be done.

Far below the surface, the Autobot CMO was anxious to see what would become his new medbay. The improvised conditions that he'd been forced by circumstances to accept had long since gotten old. Often forced to perform delicate operations in less than ideal and usually even primitive conditions, the medic was really looking forward to having an actual medbay for once.

"**Hey, I just thought of something. Since we're going to take a look at the new medbay, why don't we drag Skywarp along for the ride? He can be my first patient.**" Ratchet said happily.

"**You mean 'victim' don't you?"** Barricade asked casually.

"**No! He means patient! I think it might be possible to convince Skywarp of the error of his ways."** Starglide corrected.

"**Okay, Ratchet, here is what I need you to do."** Starglide began explaining to the medic as they looked over the captured Skywarp.

"**Okay, but why are we doing this before we start on the medbay?"** Ratchet asked irritably.

"I'll answer that for you. While you are dealing with him, I have a couple of officers rounding up construction specialists who are currently off base. When they get here, you'll have a work force of more than five hundred people who are ready, willing, and more than able to get the job done. Besides, that hangar up top is somewhat small compared to what you can have for a medbay, and that's gonna take some work to remodel. Does that make sense?" General Mallory asked with a grin.

"**Yes, it does. And that kind of help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you."** Ratchet replied.

"**Good! Then let's see about getting things set up, so I can ask Skywarp a few questions that I KNOW he'll provide answers to!"** Starglide stated in a satisfied tone.

As they walked along, Starglide and Ratchet were exchanging ideas about the methods that Starglide was going to use while questioning Skywarp. Starglide was relating suggestions that she thought would work.

"Grinder." Daniel muttered during a pause.

Everyone ignored the salvage operator in favor of what Starglide was currently suggesting.

"Cock Roaches." Daniel muttered during another lapse.

Starglide paid no attention to the mutterings of the human trailing behind them, while listening to a suggestion from Jazz.

"**You know Jazz that might actually work."** Starglide replied to the saboteur.

"Fire Ants." Daniel said maliciously.

"Okay, now just what in the WORLD would you want with 'fire ants'?" Gen. Mallory finally demanded in exasperated curiosity.

"Ants just LOVE electromagnetic fields. Like the ones made by electrical components. They'll chew their way into switches, relays, and they positively go NUTS over wires! It don't matter how many of 'em get fried, they still keep at it. They just keep chewing away until they just short out the system." Daniel said as he ignored the horrified shudders of the bots around him.

"**I think we'll stick with our original plan, since we want him operational afterwards, but thank you for the suggestion. If I ever need to torture a bot I'll know who to talk to."** Starglide answered pleasantly while shooting a dubious look down at the demented little man.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that Starglide. Subtlety is not just lost on him, but wasted too." Maigan chimed in with a grin.

"Subtle? I'm about as subtle as a crowbar to the head." Daniel retorted.

"I already know THAT! I'm just warning Starglide." Maigan answered.

"**Yes, I've figured that out. BUT, I'm going to make sure that he learns the fine art of subtlety when dealing with me. Besides, I won't be letting him get away with much. He's too much like a sparkling or child in your terms."** Starglide replied.

"Thanks. But I'm beginning to think that the only time he really causes trouble is when he can get on someone's nerves. Otherwise, someone would have probably killed him since I visited last year." Maigan hypothesized.

Starglide gave Maigan a thoughtful look before entering the room in which she'd laid dormant for so many years, but which now held the unconscious form of Skywarp. She gave the seeker a cursory glance, but then gave him a closer inspection when she saw no physical damage to the frame of the seeker.

"**How did you manage to capture him without nearly KILLING him?"** Starglide demanded as she rounded on Daniel.

"Let's just say that one of my crowbars came in handy." Daniel answered smugly while smiling up at the femme.

"**Really? Then just where is the damage from that pit spawned crowbar of yours?"** Ironhide demanded angrily.

"Hey! Just cause he got dropped, don't mean your gonna be able to find out HOW he got dropped." Daniel answered with a cryptic grin, before he turned and winked at Barricade.

Barricade just HAD to laugh! Both from the way that Daniel was currently acting, which he knew would happen, as well as from the way that the seeker had been begging none other than PRIMUS to be released from the situation he'd gotten himself into. He knew from the wink and the expression on Daniel's face that the human was having a bit of fun at the expense of the others and he figured that it might be a little fun to join in on it.

Starglide looked over at her creation who was laughing quite happily. **"Tell us what happened, since you OBVIOUSLY know what occurred!"** She demanded angrily.

"**I'll fill you in on what I know, but it's not going to tell you anymore about how he finally captured that glitch then he's already told you."** Barricade said easily.

Barricade then played the audio recording of the incident for everyone to hear. **"See? That recording even verifies that I did TRY to warn him! So, you can't blame this one on me!"** He stated defensively.

With the exception of Barricade, every bot in the room was staring at Daniel in a mixture of surprise, disbelief, and horror.

"**You had him pleading with Primus to get you to stop! Can you NOT tell when someone has surrendered?"** Starglide finally demanded.

"Actually, he never DID ask me to stop. All he was yelling about was 'Get it off! Get it off!' and I wasn't all that inclined to cooperate with him at that point." Daniel answered truthfully. "Now if he'd started yammering about how he was giving up, then that might have been a different story."

"**Possibly, but I notice that you STILL haven't told us exactly HOW you managed to capture him!"** Starglide insisted firmly.

Daniel looked over at his niece with a thoughtful expression on his face while he rubbed at his jaw with his right hand. "Hmmm... How should I put this...? I know!" He exclaimed as he looked up at Starglide brightly.

"I took one of my crowbars, and I stuck it where the sun don't shine!" Daniel stated with relish while wearing a malicious grin.

Starglide's optics shot to their widest setting at that remark, even as her mouth opened and closed several times while she struggled to form coherent speech without resorting to crudity. She thought about what he'd said for a second or two, before she looked over at Barricade.

"**Please tell me he didn't."** She demanded softly.

"**You know, I do believe that I CAN recall seeing him stick the curved end of that crowbar in a place where the sun doesn't shine."** Barricade said honestly, as he watched almost everyone, human and bot alike squirm their hips while wincing at a horribly painful thought.

Daniel and Barricade nearly fell over laughing as Ratchet immediately flipped the unconscious mech over and began scanning him. Now, Ratchet was truly perplexed. There weren't any signs of damage to the mech's aft, and after a complete scan, he found that there were no signs of damage ANYWERE! Puzzled, and sure that he was missing something, he ran a thorough diagnostic on his scanners, only to find them working perfectly.

Ratchet stared down at the unconscious mech for a couple of long minutes as he tried to figure out exactly HOW the seeker had been captured. He could detect that the power levels had been recently depleted by high stress exertions, but then that was to be expected with any type of combat. The problem was that he couldn't even find any indications of recent repairs, or Earth made materials.

"**Okay, I want to know EXACTLY what you did to him! And I'm NOT accepting any of your stupid excuses!"** Ratchet demanded angrily.

Daniel looked up at the CMO with a completely innocent expression. "What excuses? I'm not giving any excuses. I used my crowbar, and if you don't believe me then you can always wake him up and ask him, and you also ask him if he wants some more."

Starglide knelt down quietly and made certain that her face would be level with Daniel's once she got his attention.

"**You are an obstinate little being, aren't you? Stubborn, tenacious, determined, utterly ruthless, and yet mixed in there somewhere is an apparent sense of honor that is as unyielding as the rest of your traits."** Starglide said with a small amount of admiration in her tone.

Daniel grinned as he reached out and patted the femme on her nose. "Not quite the whole package, but you're getting there. You'll learn." He said condescendingly.

"**Your bravery is admirable, but I foresee that it will get you into serious trouble one day. You are a lot like my foster sibling, Ironhide. There is one major difference between you however. HIS body is composed of high strength alloys, and YOU are not! I am perfectly willing to give you every bit of the due credit for capturing one of the deadliest fliers on Cybertron, especially considering that you did so without inflicting any DETECTABLE signs of damage, but I do NOT want you putting yourself in danger like that! Nothing good will come of it. As hot-tempered as he is, even Ratchet tries to avoid the thick of battle because the Decepticons will ALWAYS try to target him and Optimus FIRST! It is a tactic that is horrible to have used against you, but it is also one that makes sound strategic sense. Kill the leaders, and the medics, and you can then destroy the rest at your leisure."** Starglide lectured calmly.

"That's exactly what he told me when he asked Jazz to lookout for me!" Maigan interrupted in surprise.

"**That was very smart of him, because the Decepticons are ruthless enough to exploit such tactics."** Starglide told Maigan before she turned her attention back to Daniel while looking at him shrewdly.

"**I'm beginning to realize that there is a lot more to you than you allow others to see."** Starglide stated thoughtfully.

She was about to say more when she was interrupted by Daniel who planted a loud kiss on the end of her nose with a huge grin on his face. "You're such a sweetheart, you know that?"

Instantly, Starglide was trembling in rage over the action of the salvage operator, but then her optics narrowed dangerously as her battle computer kicked into high speed while she analyzed his actions. That was when it struck her, and she nearly smiled at just how smoothly the little man had tried to distract her from what she'd been about to say. Oh, Primus, but she had to give the little man credit for being a crafty one!

Faster than a striking rattlesnake, Starglide's right hand whipped out and wrapped around the salvage operator. Then she stood up to her full height and brought the man closer to her face so she could make sure that he understood the situation he was now in.

Several of the humans and two of the mechs started to raise some serious objections to Daniel's behavior, but Starglide held up her left hand to signal for silence.

"**First, I will say 'thank you' for the compliment, and leave it at that. Second, I believe that you and I have quite a few things to discuss in private later. Wouldn't you agree Daniel?"** Starglide said in a tone that was so reasonable and understanding that everyone, Daniel included was looking at her strangely.

"It sure looks that way." Daniel reluctantly agreed not sure what was going through the femme's mind, but knowing that something was up with her.

"**Good!"** Starglide exclaimed sweetly with a genuine smile before she placed Daniel back down on his feet. **"Now, I'll need a room with a single spot light to question Skywarp. Now, Ratchet if you would take care of the restrictions I asked for..."**

"**Oh all right! Might as well, since if I don't, you'll never let me hear the end of it."** Ratchet groused as he went to work on the unconscious mech.

"**Now, Ratchet, you make it sound as if I'd asked you for one of your limbs."** Starglide laughed.

"**I don't like completely disabling any bot! ESPECIALLY for something like this! This is NOT what I became a medic for! I became a medic to save lives, NOT assist with interrogations!"** Ratchet growled angrily.

"**I think I'll watch this interrogation of yours, if'n y'all don't mind. Not that it really matters much, since I'm gonna watch one way or the other."** Rockhammer said firmly as he and Optimus approached the room.

"**You are perfectly welcome to watch, and so long as you don't try to interfere, then you'll hear no objections from me. Be warned however, that I will NOT tolerate you or any one else trying to settle a score while Skywarp is unable to defend himself. The first one that tries will die at my hand before they even get to cause any damage!"** Starglide said as she turned to face the other bots. **"Am I completely understood?"**

"That means I can still put a bunch of crickets under his plating, right?" Daniel asked eagerly.

"**Can these crickets of yours cause damage?"** Starglide demanded in a warning tone.

"**No, they cain't! But they'll sure drive a bot right out of his processors! I had one, and it WAS just one, stuck under my armor about a hundred and fifty years ago, and that little bug had me nearly ready to kill everything that moved!"** Rockhammer answered sourly before he rounded on Daniel.

"**You bring ANY of them critters near me or any other bot an I'll hang you by your toes till HE dies of old age!"** Rockhammer said while pointing at Barricade.

Daniel turned to Gen. Mallory with a thoughtful expression on his face. "You know... I THINK he might be serious on that one!"

The military officer only shook his head while trying not to laugh. Maigan made a signal for silence to Barricade, and then waited until her uncle looked back at Ratchet who was working on Skywarp before smacking him in the head.

"HEY!" Daniel blurted while several bots including Barricade burst out laughing.

"**Do you take ANYTHING seriously?"** Starglide asked in a curious tone.

"Nope! I don't believe that ANYONE should EVER take life seriously." Daniel answered.

"**And just why not?"** Starglide asked already doubting what she was about to hear.

"Because you will NEVER get out of it alive!" Daniel answered smugly.

The only sound that was heard at that point was Optimus who was certain that this one vorn was going to seem as if it would last ten million Cybertronian lifetimes.

He came online slowly, and waited in dread for the unbearable processor ache that always happened when he onlined after teleporting too many times. When the expected agony never hit, he onlined his optics in surprise. When he was greeted by total darkness, Skywarp shuttered his optics a few times before trying to run a diagnostic on them. That was when he discovered that his diagnostic routines were unavailable. With more than a little concern, he started trying to access various systems in his frame, but the only ones he had any access to at all were his optics, vocal processor, and audio receivers.

Now Skywarp was scared. He couldn't access his weapons systems to even find out if he still had any. Not that it would have made any difference if he did, because he couldn't even move! As if that weren't bad enough, his scanners and teleporting unit was also unavailable!

"**Oh Primus, please let this be a dream."** Skywarp begged in a nearly soundless whimper.

"**This is no dream Skywarp. This is real."**

Although the tone was soft and kindly, the disembodied voice was even more terrifying to the seeker.

"**No, please, I don't deserve to be in the pit. Please, I did exactly what I was ordered to do. I followed instructions. Please, I don't... don't deserve to be here."** Skywarp begged.

"**Whose orders have you been following?"**

He knew the voice that was speaking to him belonged to a femme, and it seemed familiar, but he couldn't match the voice with anyone he knew. **"I followed Starscream's orders, his, and Megatron's."** Skywarp answered fearfully.

"**Did they order you to do as you were trained?"** The femme asked interestedly.

"**No. Of course not. They made me a frontline seeker, gave me a promotion, and even made me a part of the lead trine."** Skywarp answered confused.

"**But they gave you no orders to defend Cybertron, DID they?"**

There was anger in the voice now. Skywarp was sure of that, but he still couldn't place the bot that the voice belonged to.

"**No. They didn't."** Skywarp told her.

"**If fact, they gave you orders to attack some of Cybertron's people, didn't they? DIDN'T THEY?"** The voice demanded in a cold deadly rage.

"**Yes. Primus help me. They said I had to join them or be killed."** Skywarp said in a whimper.

"**Tell me Skywarp. How many times have you been damaged? How many times have you had to ignore the training you received? How many times have you engaged in battle without knowing how to fulfill the role they assigned you?"** The voice demanded.

"**I... I don't know. Please... I don't deserve to be here."** Skywarp begged softly.

Then, slowly at first, a face began to emerge from the impenetrable darkness. The face of a femme. Then he recognized the familiar face of the femme who had once been his commander. The femme who'd been speaking to him was none other than The Air Commander of Cybertron!

Skywarp felt his spark sink, and every drop of fuel in his tanks turn sour. He became certain, without any doubts that he was now, not only dead, but trapped somewhere in the pit of the Matrix itself.

Skywarp felt his spark skip a few beats as the femme's optics came online and she looked at him with a cold pitiless expression.

"**You... you're dead! The Autobots murdered you!"** Skywarp blurted in surprise.

"**Really? And just who was it that told you that information, Skywarp?"** Starglide asked firmly.

"**Starscream. Him and Thundercracker. They told all of us that the Autobots had murdered you because you wouldn't side with them."** Skywarp stated honestly.

"**They lied. They lied to you, and to all of the others, Skywarp. I did join the Autobots. My decision to join them was made long before Megatron even gave his first attack orders. That attack was on my district and my home by the way. It was carried out by Thundercracker and Shockwave. Never would I violate my oath to defend Cybertron and the citizens by siding with a power hungry tyrant. I trained you better than that Skywarp, and I would have thought that I had taught you better as well."** Starglide replied.

"**I didn't KNOW! They said lots of things, and I didn't want to believe any of it, but there was no one who would argue with them or say anything different, so I didn't know what to do except follow along like I always do."** Skywarp said mournfully.

"**I wish you had been there to tell me the truth. You were my Commander; you even met my creators before they were killed in the lab explosion. I heard you promise them that you would watch over me, and you did. I know I'm no good at fighting on the frontlines, but it was a promotion and I thought I could learn to be good enough to deserve it."** Skywarp lamented sadly.

"**They wanted you for frontline fighting for the same reason that I had you as a frontline reinforcement. Your ability to teleport makes you a dangerous adversary, but none of the Decepticons are familiar with the drawbacks that go with teleportation, and I'd even bet that you have to keep reminding them of your limits, don't you?"** Starglide asked gently.

Skywarp tried to nod his head in an affirmative answer, but had forgotten that he couldn't move. **"Yes."**

"**You see Skywarp most of the Decepticons do not care about anyone but themselves. I protected you from the frontlines, because you are better suited to appearing behind an enemy who is gaining the upper hand on one of your teammates. Your random processor functions allow you to fit perfectly in such a role, because you are able to hold back, watch the entire battlefield, and see when someone is in trouble. THAT is your strength, Skywarp. How often was your team defeated during training? You and I both know that such defeats almost never happened while you were under my command, but how many times have you been defeated while among the Decepticons?"** Starglide asked easily.

"**I... I don't know..."** Skywarp muttered.

"**I will only make this offer once Skywarp, so I want you to consider this carefully. Are you willing to serve under my command once more?"** Starglide asked firmly.

Skywarp's optics brightened noticeably as a sudden hope flared within his processors, but then they dimmed once more as he remembered where he was. He knew that the other Decepticons had nearly always insulted him, ridiculed him, and even made him the butt of their cruel jokes. It wasn't his fault that his processor functions were so random, that it was sometimes hard to simply think. He knew now, that he had disappointed his former CO and that hurt him more than any physical damage she might have done to him. He didn't understand HOW she could be offering him this chance to do the right thing, but he didn't want to let this chance go either. Serving under Starglide would mean that he would be protected as he had been in the past, and while he would no longer be a frontline seeker, he could regain the respected position he'd held before the war.

"**Y... yes. I want that. But... I'm different now. I'm not smart like I was."** Skywarp answered sadly.

"**We'll just have to see about that then, now won't we? I want you to understand something Skywarp. This will not be easy for you. Many Autobots will not trust you for a long time, some, may never trust you. Can you deal with that?"** Starglide asked bluntly.

"**Will I be under your command again?"** Skywarp asked in a tone filled with hope.

"**Yes, you will. You will be under the command of myself, Optimus Prime, and whichever human officer is also in charge. Again, can you handle that?"** Starglide answered.

"**Yes... yes I can. The Decepticons didn't trust me either. They always made fun of me, so this won't be anything new, except that I'll have a friend here."** Skywarp told her honestly.

"**Yes, you will, and I suspect that you'll earn more friends as time goes along. One of the first things we'll need from you is information on the Decepticons. Specifically, information on the first trine, what Megatron might have been up to, and what Starscream could be planning. Do you have any problems with doing that for me?"** Starglide asked him.

"**You told me that friends wouldn't always make fun of me, that they would tell me the truth about the important things, and that I could trust them. I didn't have any friends with the Decepticons, and you were the only friend I know, so I'll tell you anything you want to know."** Skywarp stated.

"**In that case Skywarp, I have only one request of you for now. Will you swear to Primus, upon your honor that you will help the Autobots, and the humans to protect Earth from the Decepticons?"** Starglide asked gently.

"**Yes! I swear! They never liked me anyway, so why should I help them when I can have the chance to fly with my commander again?"** Skywarp answered readily.

"**Good. For now, I want you to recharge. When you wake up, we'll talk some more, and you can meet some of the others that you'll be working with."** Starglide instructed.

Starglide waited until her scanners told her that the seeker was actually recharging, before she turned off the spotlight and left the room. Once in the hallway, where the rest of the bots, and quite a few humans were waiting for her, she cycled a lot of air through her vents in what sounded like a sigh of relief. She shuttered her optics few a second or two before she opened them back up and looked over at Optimus.

"I just have one burning question, if you don't mind." Sec Def Keller spoke up. "How come you didn't extract the same oath that Barricade and Frenzy swore to?"

Starglide twitched in anger for just as split second when she heard that question, but then she remembered that this man knew nothing about the seeker he was referring to. **"I would NEVER exact such an oath from someone who might not be able to comprehend the consequences. Skywarp... can be highly intelligent on some things, but in other areas, would be considered far below normal intelligence. I'm not sure of the word I'm looking for, or if you'll really understand what I'm trying to tell you, but I can provide an example. He can provide the raw data, on almost any subject you want, but he lacks a type of practical intelligence that can be somewhat disconcerting."**

"**What she means is; he has no common sense. That is well known among the Decepticons. On some things, he's a genius, but in common sense terms, he's an absolute idiot."** Barricade interjected forcefully. **"A good example would be asking him to destroy a structure. Most of us would simply stand back and cut loose with our weapons. Him? He'd figure out the fastest way to bring it down from the inside and then go through with it. Forgetting that he should be OUTSIDE when it comes down!"**

Maigan started laughing loudly at the explanation, even while her uncle was snickering.

"**That is NOT funny! Skywarp is fiercely loyal, and has been known to give one of his teammates his LAST share of energon! I have SEEN him do it! Skywarp would gladly give his life for someone that he considers a friend and he would do so without a SINGLE regret! So, do NOT make fun of him!"** Starglide hissed angrily.

"I'm sorry Starglide, but that's not what we're laughing at. That example of Barricade's? My uncle's actually DONE that! It was a barn, and he knocked it down right on top of his ears." Maigan cackled loudly.

Starglide looked down at Daniel in stark disbelief. **"Tell me she's not serious."**

"Oh, she's serious all right. I needed to knock it down and didn't feel like takin two days ta do it. I looked around inside, spotted one pole that'd bring the whole thing down and took a chainsaw to it." Daniel replied candidly. "Wasn't until I heard that damned thing comin down that I realized where it was gonna land, and took off runnin. I wasn't fast enough." He finished with a sardonic laugh.

"**Oh just slagging WONDERFUL! I'm sharing a bond with an organic version of Skywarp!"** Barricade complained irritably.

"**Are you honestly telling me, that Daniel does completely idiotic things because he lacks the intelligence to avoid doing them?"** Starglide asked in surprise.

"Kind of. It's more that he doesn't have any common sense. It's all book smarts, so most of the time he doesn't bother to stop and think about the consequences." Maigan replied candidly.

"**Oh Primus!"** Starglide said as she looked down at Daniel. **"No wonder you irritate everyone. You and Skywarp are almost exactly alike!"**

"Really? Well, if he's a lot like me then we ought to get along just great." Daniel shot back with a snarky grin.

"**Oh no! Oh PRIMUS NO! There is no WAY that I am letting to two of you get together for ANYTHING! Dealing with you as individuals is difficult enough, but the two of you together? That would be enough to force the Unmaker into offlining himself!"** Starglide exclaimed in exasperation.

"**Primus in a junk yard! That is NOT going to happen!"** Barricade growled with a glare at Daniel before turning to Starglide. **"You keep Skywarp occupied, and I'll deal with this one."** He told her fervently.

Daniel shot the black and white interceptor a dark scowl as he thought of a REALLY nasty reply. He jerked his head to his right with a loud series of popping joints right before he collapsed to the floor.

Barricade gave an inarticulate cry of agony as he too fell to the floor in pain.

"**What the PIT!"** Ratchet bellowed as he began running a deep level scan on both the human and the mech.

As soon as he scanned the human, Ratchet knew that he'd found the source of the problem, but it took a deep level scan to discover exactly what that problem was. More than half the nanites that had been infused into the man's body were now located in the cerebellum and spinal cord of the human. When the human had popped his neck, the movement had forcibly readjusted his spinal cord at a fairly high speed. The result was that the fluid in the disk refilled the previously blocked portion of the disk and slammed against the wall of that disk with enough force to create an audible noise. It had also caused the nanites to shift in their positions inside the spinal cord, and that was were the pain had originated from.

Nanites that were created to make high speed repairs on Cybertronian frames composed of alloys with an incredibly high tensile strength, were able to rebuild fragile human flesh with ease, and Ratchet knew instantly, that the more time Daniel spent in contact with Barricade, the faster he would be repaired. For right now, Daniel would have to refrain from popping his neck and back, or he would receive another burst of pain like that one he'd just gotten.

"**Well? What's wrong with them?"** Starglide demanded promptly.

Ratchet quickly reached down and deactivated the pain receptors on the mech before he answered the femme's question. **"What's wrong is that Barricade's nanites are currently trying to rebuild the extensive nerve damage that Daniel has. The lumbar spinal damage and even his brain damage may eventually be rendered nonexistent."**

"**I thought that nanites couldn't effectively repair processor damage."** Barricade said in a pained tone as she climbed to his feet.

"**In a bot, it's extremely difficult yes. Unless the bot is taken offline for the duration of the repairs, because the nanites have a difficult time working on a functioning processor due to the active electrical currents. But the human body doesn't produce enough voltage or amperage to affect nanite functions. Plus, organic tissue is far easier to repair than Cybertronian materials, and considering that they'll base the repairs off his DNA, he should be a perfect example of human health when they finish. The bad part is the amount of damage they have to deal with. That slagger should have been in a wheel chair like Figueroa."** Ratchet explained as he used a medical program to access a diagnostic report from the nanites in question.

It was a medical routine that had rarely been used in Cybertronian history on a living subject. It was normally used in gaining an autopsy report on the system status of a deceased bot, so that the examiner wouldn't be forced to resort to disassembling the bot in question. Now, however it was a different case. Daniel had no repair systems that could be accessed by ratchet to retrieve a diagnostic report, so the only other option was to get one from the nanites that were actually conducting the repairs.

The results were somewhat surprising to the CMO. The sheer number of nanites contained in Daniel's body was phenomenally high when compared to what had used to rebuild the severed legs on Figueroa. Instead of repairing a single system at a time in order of priority, they were spread out and focusing on several sites at once. The human's metabolism had already been cranked back up to what it had previously been. Thereby providing the raw fuel, material, and reserves for the repairs that were taking place. The minor joint damage in the hands of the human were nearly complete, while the damage in the knees was just being initialized. The neurological damage on the other hand, required much more precise repair, and was being done in the meticulous fashion that nanites were known for.

"**Well break me up and sell me for scrap!"** Ratchet exclaimed almost happily. **"Those nanites are far more effective on humans that I would have imagined. I'll have to remember this."**

"**So, you're saying that he'll eventually be fully functional? As in no longer glitched?"** Starglide asked hopefully.

"**Physically glitched? No, not once the nanites complete the repairs to his nervous system, but his thought patterns are already pre-established, which means that he'll still most likely THINK the same way that he does now!"** Ratchet explained grouchily.

"So, you mean to tell me that we're gonna have a perfectly healthy screwball on our hands when those things get done with him?" SecDef Keller asked worriedly.

"**I believe so."** Ratchet replied in a near growl of disgust.

"God help us all when that happens." Keller muttered sourly.


	15. Chapter 15

ROH Chapter 15

There was a loud groan of pain as Daniel sat up. Looking at his immediate surroundings, he found himself sitting in the metal hand of Barricade. He looked up at the mech, and could have sworn that there was a level of concern in those optics. "What the hell happened?"

"**You popped your neck while my nanites are embedded in your spinal cord. You're lucky they didn't paralyze you."** Barricade retorted quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Daniel began sarcastically. "I got told the same thing the last time I got run over by a truck, and again when I broke my back. I keep hearin it, but it don't ever happen!"

"**That may be true in your past Daniel, but one day, such luck will run out, and when that happens; I believe that you'll end up regretting a lot of things."** Starglide said in a near lecturing tone.

"One day maybe, but _not_ today!" Daniel retorted with a grin as he noticed that they were on the lift and moving back towards the surface.

"So what'd I miss?" The salvage operator asked curiously.

"**What you missed is that I was able to deliver some good news for once."** Optimus stated in a satisfied tone. **"Blaster has messaged me from the Ark. They will arrive in thirty-four hours as planned, which fortunately will be under the cover of darkness. The ship has sustained some damage from intentional asteroid strikes, but is still functional. The only injury on board is Prowl."**

"**Wheeljack believes that it's spark related. Given that he's bonded to Jazz here, that is entirely possible."** Ratchet began.

"**He felt me die, okay! That could have killed him. If Daniel hadn't a brought me back..."** Jazz trailed off unable to voice the consequences.

"**I know, Jazz. I know... Don't worry once Prowl is brought back online, he'll make a full physical recovery. Convincing him to let you out of his sight again is another matter that you will have to deal with."** Ratchet reassured quickly. **"Personally, I plan to inform him that you took on Megatron single handedly. Just to watch him put some restrictions on you that might actually be followed for once."** The CMO finished with a smug grin.

"**What? No! Ain't no way you gonna get me ta slow down none! I don't care if ya **_**do**_** recruit Prowl ta help ya out! It **_**still**_** ain't gonna work!"** Jazz exclaimed fervently.

"**Of **_**course**_** that would slaggin figure!"** Ratchet groused.

"**Ratchet, I'm afraid that after countless vorns of trying, that you should give up on getting Jazz to slow down. If Prowl can't even manage to do it, you most certainly won't."** Starglide chided lightly.

"Oh yeah! Let _him_ off the hook, but me? Oh _nooo_! I don't _ever_ catch a break do I?" Daniel began complaining.

"You _might_ catch a break if you ever _earned_ it!" Maigan taunted happily.

Daniel glared down at his niece before he spoke. "In the words of the famous Archie Bunker..." The man said right before he blew his niece a huge, loud, and wet raspberry.

General Mallory put his right hand to his forehead and tried to rub his temples. His head was starting to hurt already. "Now I've seen everything." He muttered.

Mikeala looked up at the salvage operator who was sitting in Barricade's hand with a disgusted expression on her face. "You're _gross_!"

"Yup! Gross, and messy, and sloppy, and uh... I forget what else." Daniel said thoughtfully.

"How bout _weird_, _eccentric_, and _annoying_!" Maigan piped up quickly.

"What about crazy?" Daniel asked without hesitation.

"You want a compliment? Do something to _earn_ it! There's no _way_ I'm calling you something you're proud of anyway!" Maigan retorted.

The only one who didn't snicker at that remark was the recipient. Daniel was too busy frowning down at his niece to laugh. He stared at the girl for a brief moment before he shrugged his shoulders and looked over at Ratchet. "So! What are we gonna do about this Stalker dude?"

"**I don't have a clue as to who you're talking about."** Ratchet said in genuine confusion.

"You know, Prowl..." Daniel supplied.

Daniel felt the hair on the back of his neck rise in warning as all but one of the bots began to splutter in surprise.

"**How can you **_**possibly**_** know about Prowl?"** Starglide asked in disbelief.

"Huh? Whadaya mean?" Daniel retorted in confusion of his own.

"**You just called Prowl a stalker. Your web defines that as an individual who is adept at stealth, and has a decided propensity for knowing everything you do. That is an almost **_**perfect**_** description of Prowl. Since the moment you break a rule, you'll find him right behind you ready to enforce it!"** Bumblebee chimed in informatively.

"**Bumblebee makes a **_**very**_** good point! Prowl will enforce the rules, and laws precisely as they are written. Which means Daniel, that you'll have to stop being so annoying to everyone. I think this might be the first time that Prowl's presence would actually be welcomed by **_**all**_** of us."** Starglide said smiling happily.

The femme was slightly surprised and just a little disconcerted to see Daniel looking up at her with a smug smirk on his face. It was obvious to her that the salvage yard owner thought that he knew something she didn't. It was enough to arouse her curiosity as to what that might be, but not enough to cause her any worry. She knew very well what Prowl was like; just as she knew that Prowl was a stickler for law and order. Given Prowl's penchant for such things, she knew that Daniel would be forced to change his ways if he wanted to stay out of the brig. That realization only made her smile back at the irritating human.

"You see my dear... There's a few interesting things you should know. So, let's start with the first incident between me and one of you. When I went after Ironhide with my crowbar. I _distinctly_ remember closing the door to my shop. I also never invited him in. So as soon as he pulled that big assed gun of his to shoot Barricade. He was not only criminally trespassing, but had committed breaking and entering with a weapon, _and_ was guilty of attempted murder. So, if I had killed him, there wouldn't have been a single thing that could be _legally_ done to me! Then there's the second incident. Ratchet busted me in the head with a box of tissues. He was mad at the time. That constitutes aggravated assault. That gave me the _legal_ right to defend myself! The third incident was one in which Ratchet was guilty of aggravated robbery and assault when he stole my coffee. Again, I had the _legal_ right to defend myself and my property, which was destroyed I might add. Also, there is an interesting little amendment to the Constitution of the US that grants me freedom of speech, so I can say almost anything I want, as _long_ as I don't slander someone's reputation." Daniel told her as his smug grin kept getting wider with every word.

"If that's the case then what about when you racked Romero yesterday?" Capt. Lennox burst in.

"Oh yeah, that. He put his hands on me first, and that was right _after_ Ratchet stole my coffee. So if you wanna get down to the brass tacks, I was still within my rights of self defense." Daniel replied easily.

"God save us from an arm chair lawyer." General Mallory exclaimed with a sigh of frustration.

"I ain't no fuckin lawyer! And don't you _ever_ fuckin compare me to one! Those fuckin things are nothing but hemorrhoid sucking parasites living in the ass of humanity and do absolutely _nothing_ of benefit! They're blood sucking freeloaders who make their profit and living off the misery and misfortune of others! If you ain't got the money to pay their sorry asses then they want nothing to do with you! I know just enough of my rights to keep my ass out of jail. I may be crazy, but I ain't stupid! Well... not entirely anyways." Daniel finished in a near mutter.

"I've been wondering why you hadn't been locked up again." Maigan commented dryly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Daniel said to his niece before turning to glare at Ratchet. "That little diversion _still_ don't tell me what we're gonna do about this Prowl character."

"**I'm sure that Prowl collapsed for the same reason that Barricade reacts when you get hit in the back of your head by Maigan. Prowl felt the pain from Megatron tearing Jazz in half to kill him."** Ratchet explained. **"So, all we really need to do is bring him back online with Jazz nearby. Jazz's now healthy spark will then help stabilize Prowl's spark, and everything should be fine within a few minutes."**

"Okay, so what are we gonna do about this repair bay then?" Daniel replied quickly.

"**I think it would be best to wait on that until the Ark arrives. Then we can use some of the equipment on board to outfit a proper med bay for us, and most likely an infirmary for use on humans as well. Our nanites have **_**definitely**_** proven their effectiveness in repairing human injuries! Both you and Sergeant Figueroa are perfect examples of that."** Ratchet told Daniel.

"**I think your first patient will need to be Skywarp. The Decepticons modified his frame to the point that it now cripples him. With his frame that large he can't teleport nearly as effectively, either as often or as far as he used to because it also limits his processing power, and that needs to be changed. He's teleported himself out, so he may recharge for quite a while, but if the Ark arrives before he comes out of it, then we can see about modifying his frame back to something resembling the way it was."** Starglide put in.

"**What I don't understand is why Skywarp needs a smaller frame. What's wrong with the one he has, and how could it possibly limit his processor?"** Ratchet asked curiously.

"**That goes back to his creators or parents as the humans say. They didn't want him in the military at all, because of his somewhat random thinking patterns, but I convinced them otherwise after a long conversation with them."** Starglide began in a thoughtful tone.

"**Skywarp's teleportation system uses a set of static coordinates based upon the exact center of the universe. I don't know all of the exact details, but the facts are that his processors have to keep track of the movement of this galaxy in relation to that central point. Not only that but the rotation of this galaxy, the movement of this star system, along with the movement and rotation of this planet as well! It requires a phenomenal amount of processing power to keep track of all that. He also has to track the movement of any other planet that he wants to be able to teleport on. The more mass he has to carry, the more power it drains, and the more calculations that have to be done to safely complete the teleportation process. One simple mistake and he could end up with parts of his frame scattered through a different dimension, or end up melding with a solid object. Explosively, I might add."** Starglide informed them.

"Holy crap! That's like trying to keep track of every drop of water in an ocean!" Maigan exclaimed.

"**Exactly! Even with the enhanced processors that his parents came up with, those calculations still had a noticeable effect. If his teleportation systems were ever completely shut down, Skywarp's mental faculties would increase almost exponentially."** Starglide responded.

"You mean it's not completely shut down now?" Keller asked in concern.

"**The teleportation unit itself is shut down, but not the systems that perform the calculations to let him teleport."** Starglide answered.

"**Well if we have to rebuild a majority of his frame then I think that definitely needs to wait until we have the equipment available from the Ark. Using human equipment to fabricate parts from scratch is more of a hassle than I want to deal with any time soon. I went through **_**more**_** than enough of that with Barricade!"** Ratchet complained bitterly.

"**Okay, this isn't the fist time that someone has referred to the severe injuries sustained by my creation. Just how bad **_**were**_** those injuries?"** Starglide demanded.

"**Here!"** Ratchet said simply as he sent a data burst containing first a recording of the video shot by Daniel, and then the scan results that he'd obtained when first spotting Barricade in Daniel's shop.

Starglide's optics narrowed in anger as she reviewed the start of the video, but then her expression quickly changed to one of horror as she saw for herself the devastating damage that Megatron was wreaking on her creation. It was obvious when she had reviewed the entire data burst, because the femme immediately turned and began looking Barricade over intently.

"**There's no sign of it. There's no sign of **_**any**_** of that kind of damage! How is it that you survived?"** Starglide asked in disbelief.

Barricade looked at his mother for a second or two before he simply held out his right hand containing the salvage operator that he now shared a spark bond with. **"Ask him."**

"_**You**_**? You are responsible for keeping him alive after that... that horror show? **_**How**_**?"** Starglide demanded finally after staring at Daniel for several seconds.

Daniel reached up and scratched his head with his right hand while he thought back to those moments right after seeing that shocking fight from a sci-fi flick. "Well, mostly I just kept him from bleedin to death at the beginning. After that, I vacuumed up the energon and got him back to my shop. Then I spliced most of his wiring back together before I fell into that damned spark of his."

"**Considering that Barricade had already lost over nine gallons of energon, it was a miracle of Primus that Daniel was there when it happened, and acted when he did. A few more seconds, another shot, any one of a number of things could well have served to end Barricade's life at that point."** Ratchet said quietly.

Starglide said nothing as she stared at the human in Barricade's hand. Then, when the lift stopped in the hangar on the surface, she reached out and grabbed Daniel from Barricade.** "You and I are going to have our little talk now."** She said flatly, as she stepped off the lift and headed outside.

Concerned, Ratchet moved to follow the femme but found himself stopped by Barricade.

"**Leave her alone and let them settle this. Whatever she wants to talk to him about is something she wants to do in private."** Barricade stated firmly.

As Starglide carried the strange little human away from the buildings, she thought about what exactly she wanted to say to him. It was one of the few times in her long existence, that her thoughts were a confused jumble in her processors. The confusion in her mind did nothing to stop the power from flowing to the servomotors and hydraulics in her legs as those long mechanized limbs moved swiftly to propel her along the floor of the valley.

Upon reaching the base of the mountains that surrounded the Groom Lake valley, Starglide set Daniel down on top of a large boulder and took a seat beside it where she could sit facing him optic to eye. She sat in silence for several seconds as she gathered her thoughts, and studied the human in front of her.

"**Before we begin. I want one thing understood. This is between you and I. No one else will ever know of what is discussed here. Is this agreed?"** Starglide asked earnestly.

Daniel nodded his head thoughtfully. "Sure. So why don't you start it off."

"**First, I want to express my sincere thanks for your efforts in saving my sparkling. No matter how old he gets, or how mature he becomes, he will **_**always**_** be a sparkling to me. Thanks to this war, he is the only true family I have left."** Starglide began heavily as she blew overheated air from her cooling vents. **"Don't misunderstand me, Ironhide is my adopted sibling, and I love him dearly. Either of us would give our life for the other without hesitation, but Barricade is the only child I've ever had. I would have lost him if you hadn't been there, and for that, I thank you. I am well aware that I owe you my own life as well."**

"**But there are several things you and I need to discuss. Your penchant for annoying everyone is one of them. Your constant bickering with my creation is another. That rebellious streak of yours is another thing I want to discuss. Finally, I think that you and I need to establish some kind of understanding."** Starglide stated firmly but without hostility.

Daniel studied the femme appraisingly as he tried to gauge exactly what was on her mind. He wasn't having any luck in that regard, because she was apparently adept at maintaining a poker face, which was currently on display. As he searched the femme's optics for some clue as to how to go about this 'little chat', he decided that the best bet would be to set aside all his bull shit and shoot straight with her.

"Look, I had an ulterior motive when I found Barricade. As far as I knew then, he was the only thing willing to stand between us and the extinction that Megatron had in mind. As far as fixing you, Frenzy, and Jazz was concerned... hell, I've always enjoyed working on stuff. That's part of why I went into the junk business. The other part of that is I happen to be a pack rat from hell. The thing is, I like working on things, _especially_ you people. I can't do the electronics or circuitry, but I can handle almost everything else. I gotta admit though, havin one of you get up and say 'thanks' when I get done, feels a _damn_ sight better than hearin an engine crank up when I finish workin on it!" Daniel told her honestly.

"**That is a sentiment that I can understand. I've known several bots in the past who also enjoyed fixing things. I can also understand your reasoning in repairing Barricade. I will admit that I do not find the idea, that you would have been willing to let him die had his words been otherwise, but I can't blame you for that. I will also admit that I was wrong in trying to correct you in front of everyone in the way that I did. That was a mistake on my part, and it's one that has **_**very**_** unpleasant repercussions. Although you can be **_**incredibly**_** irritating and annoying, it was still no excuse. I will tell you that there are several of my programs that insist that due to your young age by our standards, and your small stature, that you are still a child. It's a mistake on my part to think of you, or any of the other humans that way."** Starglide said factually.

Daniel cocked his head to his right as he started to pop his neck, but suddenly remembered the previous consequences of doing that and stopped. He took his right hand and rubbed his jaw instead, before looking back at Starglide intently. "Yeah, that shit back there went wrong all the way around. I meant to try pulling a little joke on you and it backfired _big time_! Now the problem is; Rockhammer's payin the price. If I'd known how that was gonna work out, I damned sure wouldn't have done it, and the one I owe the apology to is Rockhammer."

"**You aren't the only one who owes that mech an apology. No one deserves to learn of such heavy loss like that. You and I seem to have been at odds with each other, and I for one would like that to change. You are obviously a highly intelligent individual, and one who seems to care about others, but you can be so **_**blasted**_** irritating sometimes! **_**Why**_**?"** Starglide blurted out at the end.

Daniel reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out his smokes. He thought very carefully about how he was going to answer that as he got one out and lit it. He transferred the cigarette to his left hand and used the first two fingers of his right hand to tap his right temple. "The reason I tend to piss people off is because this up here don't work the way it's supposed to."

"_**That**_** is an excuse!"** Starglide interrupted.

"No, it isn't. It's a cold hard fact! The part of my brain that controls emotions does _not_ _work_! There's one major problem with that. What I _can_ feel... is anger. Various levels and stages of anger. Other than that, most of it is nothing more than ambivalence. You want proof? How's this? Just yesterday, I buried Chinook. I bottle-fed him from the time he was a two-week-old pup. Had him for almost seventeen years and he died in my lap less than twelve hours before I met you. He was a damned good hybrid, and a damned good friend to boot. He's dead. Died in my arms and I couldn't feel a Goddamned thing. I realize that you can't understand what that's like, but it pisses me off because he deserved _better_ than that! The worst of it is; I know that my mother's death is coming, and the fuckin result is going to be the same! People deserve better than that. They deserve to be mourned when they pass. Tell me Starglide. How would you like to relive your life, and not be able to feel anything as you watched everyone you've lost die? How would you like to feel _nothing_ as you lost your world all over again?" Daniel explained angrily.

"**Are you seriously trying to tell me that you would feel nothing if everyone on this planet was killed by the Decepticons?"** Starglide asked skeptically.

"I'd be pissed for a while, maybe even a couple of days if I could encourage my anger for that long, but the sad part is... as much as I'd want to... I wouldn't even be able to hate the bastards responsible." Daniel answered.

"**You expect me to believe that you are **_**physically**_** unable to feel those emotions?"** Starglide asked irritatedly.

"Actually, I don't expect you to believe anything. I'm just telling you how it is. Don't get me wrong, I can find all kinds of reasons to logically justify revenge, and I'd end up getting revenge on general principal. I've done it before, and I'll more than likely end up doing it again, but I'm not even able to savor it the way I hear most people do. Take today for example. Barricade was in some kind of funk because of how he'd been thinking of Ironhide. I can tell you that something was wrong with him, but I had to _ask_ him what it was, because I _could not feel it_!" Daniel finished stating each of the final words loudly and clearly.

Starglide gaped at Daniel because she now understood that he was telling her the truth. She had often wondered how much of a blessing it would be to not to have to experience the spark rending grief she'd felt when her friends, comrades, and even sparkmate had been killed. Now she understood that the inability to experience those feelings were a curse because the pleasant emotions were lost right along with the undesirable ones.

"Don't look at me like that!" Daniel snapped angrily.

"**Like what?"**

"Like you feel sorry for me! I didn't ask for pity, and I don't want any!" Daniel retorted. "Besides, it's lost on me." He told her ruefully.

"**That still doesn't explain why you constantly annoy and irritate everyone."** Starglide countered.

"Sure it does. It's just not the reason you would think. If I go around treating people pleasantly, then I'd be expected to show up at their funerals when they die. I've been there, and done that. Quite frankly, I'm sick of the looks I get from people who _can_ feel grief when they look at me like I'm some kind of freak because of a blank expression on me face. The questioning stares and the apprehensive glances that tell me I'm scaring the shit out of the rest of my family. So yeah. I'll act like an ass hole, so no one is surprised or bothered when I stay to myself during the funeral." Daniel told her.

"It's not a perfect solution, but it's one that ensures that I don't have to try explaining this a million different times, and I don't get _pitied_ by everyone I know." Daniel said, as he had to relight his smoke, which had gone out.

"**That is a surprisingly sound reason for your behavior. As you say, it's not perfect, but it's one that works."** Starglide said thoughtfully before something occurred to her.

"**You were unconscious at the time, but it seems that Barricade's nanites are currently attempting to repair the damage to your brain. Perhaps if they are successful then you might feel things normally again."** Starglide said gently.

Daniel snorted in disbelief. "Yeah well, don't blame me if I don't get my hopes up, because that's another thing that got broke."

Suddenly Starglide was studying Daniel intently. Something was nagging at her processors, but she couldn't put a program on it. Then she realized what it was. **"Is anger the **_**only**_** thing you can feel? I know I've seen you laugh, sometimes even when you were target of the joke."**

"Hey I still got a sense of humor. It's warped, twisted, and probably messed up as hell but it still works. So I do enjoy a joke, even if it _is_ usually on me! Just don't ask me to care who the target is though, because my 'give a damn' is also busted." Daniel quipped.

Starglide couldn't suppress a snort of laughter at that one.

"Don't get me wrong, if it works then great. I got that brain damage when I was young enough that I don't really remember what it was like to feel normal emotions, so if it doesn't work... I'm not really losing anything." Daniel informed her bluntly.

"**Wait... You repaired Frenzy and Jazz too?"** Starglide asked suddenly as the implications from one of the man's earlier statements occurred to her.

"Yeah. Frenzy got most of his head cut off somehow, and Jazz was torn in half at the waist. With Frenzy, I just needed to rewire the connections and weld his head back on. Bumblebee helped me get Jazz put back together, and then we jump started his spark using the one from Bonecrusher." Daniel answered.

"**Jump start? I'm not familiar with that one."** Starglide said somewhat confused.

"It's like having a dead battery in a car. You take one that's running, and run cables from the running car to the dead car and transfer the power to the dead one. We do it all the time. Basically, we just used Bonecrusher's spark like a defibrillator to restart Jazz's spark. The fun part was when he woke up trying to knock the hell out of the joker that killed him." Daniel finished with a laugh.

When the human in front of her started using more terms that she wasn't familiar with, Starglide hit the web to find the meaning of those terms. What she found surprised her more than a little. She then realized that she had been right in her earlier assessment that Daniel was much more intelligent than he let on. The reason that he would cover such intelligence with the habit of annoying everyone had already been explained, but not why he would _constantly_ try to get on Barricade's last sensory receptor.

"**So why do you choose to antagonize Barricade the way you do?"** Starglide queried.

"Are you kiddin? He's _fun_ to mess with! He'll give as good as he gets, and don't back down for nothing!" Daniel responded with a smile.

"**Yes. He is much like you in that regard. Stubborn and obstinate when it comes time for a conflict of any kind. You like him don't you?"** Starglide asked.

"Sure. Bout as well as I can like anyone." Daniel answered candidly.

"**I want you to understand something, Daniel. Throughout this my life, and this horrid war, I've been injured a few times, but with one exception, I have never been as seriously injured as I was when you found me. I'm well aware that Ratchet could have performed his usual miracle and saved my life had he been there instead. But he didn't. **_**You**_** did! I owe you my life as a debt of honor, and I do not wish to repay that debt to someone that I don't like. The spark bond you now share with my creation, my sparkling, my **_**child**_**, means that you now hold that some position for me. It may seem strange to you, but like it or not, in human terms, I am now a foster mother to you, and I do not want us to be enemies. I would much rather have us get along. That bond means a lot to me, and it carries a lot of obligations on my part."** Starglide began heavily.

"**As an adult and your caretaker, some of my responsibilities are to see to it that you are cared for, protected, guided, and even if you can't respond in kind, loved. Don't think for a single instant that just because your emotional processing is damaged that it negates my responsibilities and obligations, because it doesn't! It actually makes those responsibilities more important. I've seen the evidence of the sense of honor you adhere to, and it's something I understand, respect, admire, and approve of. Those comments you made earlier about methods of torturing information out of Skywarp were mostly an act weren't they?"** Starglide asked rhetorically before she continued.

"**If they hadn't been, I think you might have hidden him at that salvage yard of yours, and interrogated him on your own. I'll tell you now, that I'm very glad you didn't. His mannerisms are a little odd, but he can be a very good friend to those that treat him well. Now that I think about it, it seems that you and Maigan were right in that he is a lot like you. Oh, there are differences**,** but none that would preclude the two of you becoming friends. You see Daniel, this war; this **_**atrocity**_** has taken many things from me, and from all of us. Friends, family, loved ones, my home, my city, our history, our culture, and even our very **_**world**_** have all become casualties. Your efforts have made it possible for me to regain both my creation, and a friend. You have also given me two more family members in the form of yourself and your niece Maigan. Whether you choose to believe this or not, that means a lot to me, and for that, I say 'thank you'."** Starglide said sincerely.

Daniel stared at the femme for a second or two before he started snickering.

"**What can you **_**possibly**_** find funny about that?"** Starglide demanded in a mix of confusion and outrage.

"Like the old saying goes; 'you can pick and choose your friends, but you're _stuck_ with your family'!" Daniel said with a laugh.

Starglide's mouth dropped open in disbelief as her processors worked through the possible meanings of the statement. Then, loud musical laughter filled the air as she too began laughing.

"**Thank you. I suppose I needed that. It has been so long since there has been anything to enjoy, or anything to give joy to our lives. You can no more imagine the pain of everything we've lost, than I, or anyone else can imagine what it's like for you being unable to experience the normal range of emotions."** Starglide said honestly.

"You're right. I don't know what it like, and if I got anything to say about it, no one _else_ is gonna find out what it's like either! I can't do anything about the past, and neither can anyone else, but I can damned sure try my best to see that the future doesn't repeat the past!" Daniel snarled angrily.

"**Then what you said earlier about torturing the Decepticons if needed. You weren't joking were you?"** Starglide asked sincerely.

"Nope! Not one bit! I know methods of destroying mechanical items that you wouldn't believe. I run a junk yard, remember? I've seen more things that have ended the use of something than you can possibly imagine. Everything from collisions, smoke, water, and mud, all the way down to roaches!" Daniel elaborated.

"**That's the second time I've heard you mention roaches. What exactly would they do to one of our frames? The only thing I can see is that they would be incredibly irritating as they crawled through our systems."** Starglide commented.

"Roaches have some kind of weak acid in their excrement. It takes a while, but eventually, that shit'll eat into the circuits of a computer, VCR, TV, or anything else they crawl around in. Just because you get rid of 'em, doesn't put an end to the damage that's already gotten started. The bad part is; it can even take _years_ to do the damage!" Daniel explained with malicious relish.

Starglide gaped at the man in obvious horror. What he'd just described was an insidiously slow and horrendously painful method of torture for any Cybertronian to endure.

"**And you are **_**willing**_** to actually **_**do**_** such a thing? Oh, **_**Primus**_** am I glad I didn't let you question Skywarp! Between those roaches of yours, and those crickets, he would have undergone both physical **_**and**_** mental torture! You would actually do that to a bot, wouldn't you?"** Starglide demanded.

"If it comes right down to it, I'd drop one of em in heavy brine and watch em rust in just a few short seconds!" Daniel said menacingly.

Starglide stared at the human in total disbelief. Surely, he _had_ to be joking or bluffing on _that_ one! Then she saw that Daniel was completely serious, and that sent a horrified shudder through her frame. Cosmic rust was an insidious and nearly incurable condition, and rust of _any_ kind was horrifying to all Cybertronians. _Could_ this terrestrial stuff called 'heavy brine' really do what he said it could?

"**For the mercy of Primus, **_**please**_** tell me that was a joke!"** Starglide blurted suddenly.

"Nope. Heavy brine is water with an extremely high salt content. You can submerge metal in it for several hours, even days, and nothing happens. Take the metal out of that mixture, and _bam_! Soon as the oxygen in the air hits that metal it starts to become completely rusted in seconds. It'll corrode several tons of stainless steel in about an hour. After twenty-four hours... _Forget it_! A tank would be nothing but solid rust, and will fall apart with no problem." Daniel explained.

"**Daniel, I will ask you very kindly, and very sincerely to please, **_**never**_** mention that method to **_**any**_** Cybertronian. Rust or corrosion of any kind is a very dreadful and serious condition to us, and there is even something known as Cosmic Rust that doesn't affect a frame as rapidly as what you just told me. What you've just so easily described would be a source of very severe nightmares for our kind. Again, please don't ever mention this to any of us, because that is one of the most frightening things I've ever heard of."** Starglide asked in soft earnest tone.

Daniel looked up at Starglide with a speculative expression on his face, as he studied her. He could see that she was very serious about this, and he could easily understand why. "Okay, I'll hold that one in reserve. And yeah, I'll keep my mouth shut about it." Daniel finally agreed.

"**Thank you."** Starglide answered in a very relieved tone. **"Now, I think it's time that we rejoin the others."**

"I think you're right. Besides, I got a BBQ to throw." Daniel said with a grin.

"**I thought a BBQ is a type of food. Why would you throw it?"** Starglide asked a little confused.

Daniel almost snickered at that question until he remembered that these Cybertronians tended to be fairly literal on most things. "Well, you do eat BBQ. Or _we_ do at any rate. But there's two expressions or terms for having a BBQ. You 'host' it, or you 'throw' it. On the other hand. There is such a thing as a 'food fight'! Those _can_ be fun, but _damned_ messy! And ya don't do it with good food. One piece of advice though, if there are mashed potatoes in the area when a food fight _does_ get started, take cover! _Those_ damned things are a mess and a half even for us! I don't even wanna _think_ about how hard it would be to get that crap out of all the little nooks and crannies you guys got in those metal bodies of yours." He explained.

"**I will most certainly keep that in mind. Thank you for the warning."** Starglide said as she reached over and picked Daniel up.

As Starglide stood up, she couldn't help but notice the smooth and silent function of the servomotors in her legs. Curious, she initiated a diagnostic on her systems, and set the program's priority fairly high so that it would run its course faster. She'd only gone a dozen steps when she froze and stared at the results of the diagnostic on her HUD.

"What's wrong?" Daniel asked as the femme stopped.

"**Nothing. Nothing's wrong."** Starglide replied in a slightly distracted tone.

"Then why'd ya stop?" Daniel asked again.

"**Because nothing's wrong. My diagnostic results are coming back with everything reading normally."** Starglide answered finally.

"Okay, so why is that a problem?" Daniel asked curiously.

"**Because, I'm certain that the joints in my frame can not be fully functional yet. I was lying stationary for nearly a vorn, so all of my joints should still be hesitating, and possibly freezing on occasion, but they're not even making any noises, or showing any signs of forced movement. Don't misunderstand, I know that all of you did a thorough job on my repairs, but still, there should be some sign that my joints were left immobilized for so long."** Starglide said in a puzzled tone.

"So you're thinking there might be a problem with your diagnostic sensors, in addition to your joints. No problem, let's get back so me an Bones can take a peek at 'em." Daniel replied readily.

The femme nodded her head in acknowledgement, but focused her other sensors on the joints in her legs as she once again began moving back towards the main complex. Her diagnostics were still reading clean, but she doubted that such was the case. Her scanners on the other hand, were showing her that the joints in question were functioning smoothly, without a single hitch in movement, or whine of protest. Those scan results even showed a nearly optimal amount of lubricant in those joints, even when she knew, just _knew_ that those results couldn't _possibly_ be correct!

Starglide strode into the large hangar where the others were talking casually. She didn't hesitate in the slightest as she walked straight to Ratchet.

As soon as he saw the femme approaching him with an obvious purpose in her processors, Ratchet scanned both her and the human in her hand. Although he wouldn't _ever_ have admitted it to anyone, Ratchet had been worried that Starglide might inadvertently cause some type of injury to the human, or Primus forbid, vice versa. Seeing that Daniel was fine as far as that went, Ratchet turned his attention to the results of his scan on the femme.

Starglide and Daniel both froze as a blue beam of light began passing over Starglide's frame.

"What's goin on, Bones?" Daniel asked immediately. "She was just tellin me that her diagnostics are sayin that her joints are fine even though she ain't used em in years."

"**They **_**are **_**fine! I don't understand it. It should take at **_**least**_** a human week for her systems to produce enough of her own lubricant to saturate those joints like that, but my scanner is showing an **_**almost **_**normal lubricant level!"** Ratchet said in confusion as he scratched his head in a clearly human gesture.

"**Ha! What'd I tell ya, Sonny? That there WD-40 is the best stuff around! Ya couldn't ever ask for anything better to help lube up a freshly repaired joint."** Rockhammer said happily.

Starglide, Daniel, and Ratchet immediately turned their attention to the large mech.

"**Are you telling me that you're familiar with that stuff?"** Ratchet demanded.

"**You betchya! Had that stuff used on me once or twice. Never could find nary a thing ta complain about when them miners gave me a dose of that stuff. Makes your joints crank out your own lube faster than you can gripe about em bein dry."** Rockhammer answered easily.

"**Then... my diagnostic reports are correct then?"** Starglide asked in surprise.

"**Apparently so. I wouldn't have believed it myself without seeing the proof, but I can't argue with the results that are right in front of me."** Ratchet said in a puzzled tone.

Ratchet then turned a _very_ suspicious pair of optics on Daniel, but he wasn't the only mech who had fixed the human with an accusatory stare, Ironhide, Barricade, and Starglide herself, were also staring at him curiously.

"**Did you **_**know**_** that your WD-40 would have that result on her frame?"** Ratchet demanded in suspicion with narrowed optics as he stared intently at the salvage operator.

"Nope! I knew it would do her some good, but I didn't know it would be _that_ much good! I do now, though." Daniel answered with a smug grin. "Why? Just what's her status?"

"**Status? She's ready for a paint job, and an alt mode! And I would have sworn that she wouldn't be ready for either one of those for at least a good week, if not longer."** Ratchet said shaking his head.

"Fantastic! Let's get her down to the motor pool where we can get her fixed up properly. The paint, the personnel, and the airbrushes are ready and waiting to get this lovely Lady looking her best! I'll have some of the maintenance personnel roll out one of each aircraft we have so she can have a range of vehicles to choose from. How does that sound?" General Mallory stated happily.

"**That actually sounds quite wonderful right now. No offense, but going around without a paint scheme, or an alt mode makes me feel about the same way a human would feel without clothing."** Starglide answered in a slightly embarrassed tone.

"In that case Madam, if you'll follow me, I'd be very proud to escort you there personally." General Mallory said courteously.

Starglide bent down and placed Daniel on the floor of the hangar, before reaching over and picking up the base CO. **"I have a better idea. How about you simply relax and provide the directions, while I do the walking?"** She said in a rather pleased tone.

"Right this way My Lady." General Mallory replied pointing the way.

"Damn! Talk about getting dumped like a used coffee filter." Daniel griped as the femme left the hangar.

Several voices could be heard laughing at that statement, and as Daniel looked around, he saw that there were both humans and mechs laughing about it.

"**Serves you right! Because it's **_**exactly**_** what a slime puddle like you deserves!"** Barricade stated with relish.

Daniel closed his right eye as his left squinted at the mech in a skeptical fashion. "Don't you just _wish_! The fact is she's probably goin to get all prettied up for our date!" Daniel retorted just to see the look on Barricade's face.

Instantly, several mechs and humans were spluttering in both surprise and indignation at that remark.

"You... you asked _her_ out on a date?" Maigan finally demanded in disbelief.

"Maybe I did, and maybe I didn't. But that's for me an her to know, and you never to find out." Daniel retorted with a smug grin.

Mikeala was eyeing Daniel dubiously as she spoke to her friend. "You said he was weird, but you didn't tell me he was _that_ weird!"

"Yeah... I'm beginning to worry about him too." Maigan responded in the same mystified tone.

"Sorry, folks, but I gotta check my pit!" Daniel said as he hurried out of the hangar.

Two hours later, Stevie Vai was blasting out a heavy metal rendition of Beethoven's fifth symphony on a nearby CD player as Daniel closed the lid on his pit once more. The BBQ was almost done to perfection, and the truly wonderful smells that were coming from it were making him ravenously hungry. He reached for the ice chest that was sitting nearby and grabbed a Java Mean Bean out of it.

Cracking open the can of coffee, Daniel took a long slug from it as he turned around. What he saw made him drop his coffee and his jaw as he stared in stunned surprise. The music from the CD player came to a scrambled halt before a series of mechanical sounds was heard from it. Suddenly Daniel was looking back and forth between Frenzy, who'd taken the place of the CD player while intending to play a joke on him, and the apparition of mechanical splendor that stood in front of him.

Coffee forgotten Daniel stared at Starglide with his eyes and mouth wide open. It took him several seconds, before he shook his head to clear his mind.

"Damn!" He whispered softly.

"**Y...y...yeah... you sa... sa... said it!" **Frenzy agreed readily.

"**I take it that you two approve of my new alt mode and paint job then?"** Starglide asked casually.

"Anybody that don't is a damned fool or dead!" Daniel choked out.

Starglide's optics widened slightly in both surprise and concern as she noted the man's reaction. While she was pleased at his words, she was also concerned by the physical reaction that was visible. A quick scan showed a slightly faster heart rate, and somewhat elevated blood pressure, but nothing that couldn't be attributed to the coffee that the man was wont to consume.

What Starglide couldn't know, or seemed oblivious to, was the fact that she now looked radically different. Vocally, and facially, she was still the same femme, but everything else had changed. The frame, which had held mostly straight lines, was now graced with extremely attractive and very feminine curves. The nearly straight wings of an aircraft jutted proudly from her back like those of an angel. Soft grey colored frame with a light rose colored pink stripes and chrome accents presented a feminine coloration without being obnoxiously girlish. The over all effect was such that anyone, mech or human, would gape in astonishment.

"I wanna ride when you try them wings out for the first time!" Daniel finally blurted out.

Starglide smiled in appreciation. **"Okay... but you **_**do**_** realize that I'm a lot faster and **_**far**_** more maneuverable than one of your own aircraft of this type, don't you?"** Starglide asked casually.

"Oh yeah! In fact, I'm countin on it!" Daniel replied with a crazed grin.

"Hey Cade! Come check out Momma!" Daniel yelled loudly in a voice that was easily heard inside the hangar.

Within seconds, the doors to the hangar were slid open while various mechs and humans came pouring out of it.

Everyone had filed out of the hangar and stood around smirking at both Daniel and Frenzy with _very_ smug looks on their faces.

Daniel eyed several of them for a moment before he fixed Barricade with a stern look. "What the hell are y'all lookin so smug about?" He finally demanded.

"Now, come on... You didn't _honestly_ believe that you'd be the first to see her new appearance, now did you?" Maigan demanded.

"Yeah, uh... In fact, I'd say that you and Frenzy there are the _last_ two to see her like this." Sec Def Keller said with a grin.

"Is that so?" Daniel asked slowly while Frenzy managed to look believably hurt in spite of his decided lack of facial mobility.

Seeing the round of unanimous nods of confirmation, Daniel slowly cracked a grin of his own, while nodding his head. With a sly grin locked in place, Daniel reached into his jacket pocket with his left hand and pulled out his smokes and Zippo. The salvage operator took his sweet time in lighting up a smoke, and everyone was beginning to realize that the man had something up his sleeve, because that oh-so-sly grin never faded or even faltered in the slightest.

"That's fine, but it don't matter anyways, because I _still_ got the best end of the deal!" Daniel said proudly.

"Really? And just how do you figure that?" Capt. Lennox asked curiously.

"Simple! She already agreed that I got dibs on the first ride when she tries out those wings for the first time!" Daniel said as his smug grin widened to maniacal proportions.

The smug expressions on the faces of the Air Force Personnel immediately dropped to be replaced by looks of jealousy

"Oh... you _lucky_ son of a ... dog..." General Mallory said finally with a lame finish as he remembered the company he was currently keeping.

Suddenly, Mikeala burst out laughing loudly. When everyone turned to look at her, she explained with a smile that was even wider than the one Daniel was sporting.

"If she's like the others, then she can go three times faster than the real thing, which means that she'll probably make him so sick he kisses the ground when he finally gets done puking!" Mikeala said still laughing.

"**Actually, I don't believe that's going to happen."** Starglide said thoughtfully.

"What? Why not?" Maigan demanded.

"**Because, I'm not really sure he'll even be conscious, let alone able to stand or form a coherent thought. So he may not be **_**able**_** to puke when I get done."** Starglide explained with a laugh.

Daniel stood there with a somewhat dubious look on his face while the others were laughing loudly. He knew that he'd always been one to enjoy roller coasters, and other types of thrill rides without getting motion sickness, but as he really thought about what a sentient jet would be able to do when truly cutting loose, two thoughts kept running through his mind. It could be one hell of a ride, but then it could also turn out to be a puke fest from hell. Either way, he knew that it would be a ride he would never forget, and one that he probably wouldn't regret either, even if it turned out to be a miserable mistake. It might be the last such ride he would ever take, but he knew with out a single doubt in his mind, that it would be one that could never be topped!

"We'll just have to find that out now won't we?" Daniel challenged readily.

Both Mikeala and Sam got incredulous expressions on their faces at that remark.

Mikeala fully remembered that first wild hair raising, breath taking, heart pounding ride she'd received when she'd first gotten into Bumblebee while they were being chased by Barricade. Scared? She knew good and well that she'd been too terrified to even wet her pants! Instead, all she'd been able to do was hold on for dear life and scream for it to end!

For his part, Sam also recalled that ride, although for his part, he remembered the insane maneuvers that had been pulled off by the both the mech who was trying to get him and his new girl friend to safety, and those of the mech that was chasing them! It was not an experience he ever wanted to repeat.

"You really _are_ crazy, aren't you?" Sam asked in total disbelief.

"Yeah... but at least I admit _my_ insanity!" Daniel smirked with a smug wink at the young man.

The salvage operator took a long drag off his smoke as he once more turned his attention to Starglide, and looked her over speculatively. He was trying to figure out exactly which type of aircraft she'd chosen as an alt mode, and it wasn't proving to be very easy for two reasons. One reason was the nonstandard coloring. The other was the fact that while she was standing in her root mode, everything had shifted and moved from one place to another, and nothing was where it should have been.

A single almost small thruster was incorporated into each lower of the femme's lower legs. While the cockpit couldn't be seen, since it was mounted on the femme's back torso, the few intact body panels that could be seen were smooth and more than slightly curvaceous. The over all effect was to give the femme a slender, trim, and almost athletic appearance. Daniel shook his head after staring for more than a full minute and still being unable to figure out what alt mode she'd chosen.

"Okay. I give. What'd ya pick to turn into?" Daniel asked expectantly.

"**I chose a T-38. And before you ask, yes, I've been told that it is commonly used as an advanced training unit. However, it fits my frame size, and from what I've been told is wonderfully maneuverable. So with my own skills and abilities added to those of this alt mode, I would think it should prove to be a **_**very**_** interesting ride for you."** Starglide said with a smile.

"If she can go three times faster than our version, then that will give her a top speed of just over Mach 3.2 and at _that_ speed; her small size won't make a bit of difference, because those weapons of hers will be a _huge_ equalizer!" General Mallory said with a grin.

"I know the T-38 has been around for a long time, and we wouldn't still be using it if it was a piece of junk." Daniel replied.

"**Three times faster and **_**twice**_** as maneuverable! The Decepticon seekers will find me to be an opponent who is **_**more**_** than able to provide them with a challenge."** Starglide said in a satisfied tone.

"Why do I not find that hard to believe?" Maigan asked rhetorically while grinning.

"Hey General. I gotta deal for ya." Daniel said with a grin.

"That would depend on what it is, and given your record so far... I'm not about to agree to _anything_ you propose without knowing what it is first!" General Mallory retorted firmly.

"Well... it's like this... I got the BBQ, and I'm pretty sure this base of yours has the plates and stuff. So I'll make you a deal. You break out the dinnerware, and Maigan and me break out the food. How does that sound?" Daniel proposed with a smirk.

"Now, _that_ is a deal I can agree with! Who all are you planning to feed?" General Mallory asked as he pulled out his cell phone.

"Well, besides us, meanin the people we got here now, I was thinkin your top brass, since they'll know about our friends, them MP's from yesterday, and... uh... hell, let's add the Sector Seven people too!" Daniel finished with a grin.

"All _right_!" Maigan burst out excitedly. "BBQ time!"

Several minutes and a few phone calls later, men and women were lined up with plates in their hands to get some fresh cooked mesquite smoked BBQ. Daniel was smiling and cracking jokes as he passed out burgers, pork chops, pork loins, steaks, sliced brisket, and even chicken.

Sec Def Keller and General Mallory were standing by the trailer eating their wonderfully cooked porterhouse steaks, which were over an inch thick and smoked to perfection. Tender, juicy, and piping hot, the two men were in hog heaven. Ratchet had brought out several containers of energon that while not quite high grade, were still above the level of the mid grade energon that were standard rations. All in all, nearly everyone involved with the Cybertronians was receiving a little of a good thing in file.

That was when Daniel saw the Sector Seven agents from that morning. The salvage operator smiled broadly as he started placing hot dogs on their plates.

"Uh... what are these?" One of the agents asked uncertainly as he noticed the strange color of the hot dogs.

Daniel leaned closer and eyed the things with obvious disgust. "Not sure really. One of em is supposed to be a soy dog, and the other is some kind of tofu dog thing... All I know, is, there ain't a chance in _hell_ that I'm gonna try either one of them damned things. Eat up, guys! I got em just for you." He said with delight.

"How'd you know they're vegetarians?" General Mallory asked curiously.

"I didn't! They weren't willing to share the good stuff with me this morning, so I see no reason for me to share the good stuff with them now." Daniel said as he grinned widely.

General Mallory's face fell when he heard that answer. "You mean to tell me, that you went all out like this, just for a little bit of damned _revenge_?" He demanded.

"Partly, but not entirely." Daniel returned smugly. "I did it because Maigan asked me to, but I figure that since I was, I might as well get something out of it too. Well, something besides good BBQ."

"That's just downright mean. I talkin just by God _mean_!" Keller said angrily.

"I bet next time they think twice before pissin me off, now won't they? Put his hand on his fuckin gun. Like I'm gonna mug him or something." Daniel griped.

"Look. Agent Bannacheck straightened us out on that. We assumed that those were strictly for Frenzy, we didn't know that they were to supply whoever wanted them." The Agent said trying to be reasonable.

"Maybe he did, but I still wasn't able to get one, now did I? That's why you won't be getting any good BBQ now." Daniel said as he put in his final answer and turned back to his pit.

_Yeah, I'm back. Them plot demons ain't done yet. Don't blame me for this, blame them! All I can say is... Chapter 16 is in progress._


	16. Chapter 16

The dark menacing form moved into orbit with no fanfare. There were no alarms, no warnings going off, and no klaxons to alert the inhabitants of the planet that it was even there. Systems checked near space, and scanners remained at the highest level of sensitivity to determine the best possible location from which to carry out hostile intentions. Detecting the presence of an obsolete and no longer functioning weather satellite, weapons systems activated for a brief moment, and that satellite vanished into oblivion as it was instantly vaporized. Once the satellite was disposed of, Soundwave assumed both its orbit and appearance.

Within mere seconds, the planetary system of communications was detected, penetrated, and finally translated. With full access to the communication system known as the internet, as well as all signals directed into orbit, Soundwave now had almost the entire range of human communications in the western hemisphere at his disposal. He could single out any one of them or analyze thousands of them simultaneously. There were now no secrets that could be kept from him unless a secured landline was used.

The Decepticon immediately began formulating a list of US Government officials to be top priorities, and then suddenly, all of his systems came to a halt, as he understood that there was only one official that was needed for interrogation. Immediately, he started analyzing signals to pin point exactly which one he wanted in order to isolate that particular official.

Sec Def Keller let out a miserable sigh as he pushed his plate away from where he was sitting at the tables that had been set up for that morning's meeting in the hangar. In spite of what he'd promised his wife about trying to lose some weight, he had _seriously_ over eaten. The mesquite-smoked steaks had been excellent, and he didn't know where Maigan had picked up the side orders from, but they too had been top notch. The potato salad, pinto beans, and cold slaw had gone perfectly with the iced tea that the base's commanding officer had supplied.

He let out a second heavy sigh in an attempt to find some comfort for his overly full stomach. It proved to be a futile effort, and while he was currently miserable from being stuffed, it was still well worth it in his opinion. He leaned back in his chair and shook his head at the thought of the man who had actually done the cooking on the steaks. It was true that the man was more than a little weird, but then it was just as true that he was good at what he did. It was strange. The man could be a total pain in the rear, but then turn right around and do something that was actually nice. Okay, so maybe Daniel had shown a serious mean streak when he'd given those agents those hot dogs made out of soybeans, but then he had been given a reason not to share just as he'd said. It was just that kind of thing that made Keller wonder just how far the man would go to get even.

After shaking his head to dismiss such thoughts from his mind, Keller reached for the snifter of Glenlivet that had been provided by General Mallory, as he tried to relax and let his food digest. He glanced at his wife just before he took a sip of the high quality scotch, and immediately saw that she was in the same miserable condition that he was.

"That was good BBQ, wasn't it, Margaret?" Keller asked her with a smile.

"Yes, it was. Far more palatable in fact than the person who prepared it." Margaret Keller intoned factually.

"Now Dear, I'll admit that he's a little rough around the edges..."

"No... Some of our _friends_ are rough around the edges, but then again, most ranchers and ranch hands are. _He_ is simply ornery!" Margaret replied haughtily.

The Secretary of Defense for the United States laughed, because he couldn't really disagree or even argue with the point his wife had just made. He was still laughing when his cell phone rang with the distinctive ring tone that told him it was a call from the White House. Sec Def John Keller's good mood was gone and he stopped laughing as he answered the call.

"John Keller speaking." He answered soberly.

"_Mister Secretary, it seems that there are some complications with some of the protocols and orders that you issued a few days ago. Your presence is needed in Washington to verify these orders. I'm sorry to interrupt your vacation Sir, but this is something that can't wait."_ The voice on the other end said quickly.

Sec Def Keller had recognized the voice as that belonging to one of his aides, and he'd regrettably told his wife the score as he put away his phone. His wife nodded understandingly. Having their vacation disturbed while they had been at Hoover Dam was one thing since it was a meeting of some kind, and even though it had turned out to be legitimate, she still hadn't been pleased. This, on the other hand, was a type of situation that she understood and accepted as part of her husband's position. She watched in silence as he called and made arrangements for a plane to fly them back to Washington DC.

He had been watching, waiting, and patiently checking each of the myriad signals that he was intercepting. Then suddenly, he'd encountered the exact signal he'd been searching for. He'd immediately dispatched a unit to intercept, and interrogate the human.

The flight was both uneventful and relaxing, which had given the two a chance to relax. Neither one said anything to the other, but then after just over thirty years of marriage, they knew each other well enough that they didn't need to say anything. Once they landed at the airport in Washington, Margaret had gone home while the Secretary of Defense had gone to his office. John Keller had barely walked into his office when he was immediately besieged by White House staff, who demanded to know why such unilateral concessions were being given to a faction of sentient robots from another world.

"Look, the fact is, these Autobots have technology that is _thousands_ of years ahead of ours, and they are _also_ the _only_ help we can count on in a war against their enemies, who have sworn to _eliminate _the _entire human race_!" Sec Def Keller stated emphatically.

"But Sir, don't you think that granting them asylum _and_ full citizenship is going a little too far?" The chief of staff demanded.

"No, I don't! Just who or more precisely _what_ do you think was responsible for that attack on Air Force One a few days ago? That _successful_ attack, I might add! I'll give you one clue... the same alien robots that want to wipe us _out_! The worst of it is; that was actually one of the smallest and weakest ones." Keller said angrily. "So, no! It's _not_ going too far at _all_! Now if you have any further questions, why don't you go ask the Secret Service if they even know what the attacker looked like! I know who and what it was because I was with the team that captured it, so don't argue with me on this! Now, if there's nothing else, I'll be at home with my wife."

As soon as he left his office, John Keller called his wife to let her know that he was coming home, and to expect him shortly. The man shook his head as he got in the back seat and allowed the driver to take him home. Releasing a stress filled sigh, he leaned his head against the back of the seat. He fervently hoped that the total whirlwind insanity of the last few days would come to a stop, but with a ship full of more of the robots coming in, he knew that it was too much to ask. He tried to relax as he rode home, but that proved to be in vain, things had just been happening too fast lately, and he needed to slow down. It was strange in that he'd actually been able to relax while in the company of those that were the source of his current stress, but now that he was away from the alien robots, he just couldn't seem to wind down.

The car rolled to a stop in the circular driveway of his home outside of Washington DC. The Secretary of Defense felt every bit of his age as he climbed out of the back seat.

"Thanks Derek. You go on home, and I'll see you later. I'm taking some time off." Keller told the driver.

"Are you certain Sir?"

"I'm positive on this one Derek. This job is turning out to be more of a headache than I realized it could be." Keller said tiredly.

"Very well, Sir. Give me a call if you need me." The driver answered before leaving.

The evening sun was nearing sunset as he turned towards where his wife was waiting for him in the gazebo. John Keller smiled at the sight of a big glass of iced tea, and a good Glenfiddich waiting for him at the table.

He watched in total silence as the one he'd come for moved closer to his hidden location. He'd been notified of his brother's status as a captive of the hated Autobots by his creator, and he'd even received the data uplink from the bot as soon as he'd landed, but he ignored that data in favor of pursuing his designated prey. Besides, he had been informed by Soundwave that it probably contained some type of cyber virus, since Frenzy was a prisoner in enemy hands.

As soon as the specified human was close enough, Rumble charged out of the decorative hedges at full speed. He headed straight for the female first. Moving in a barely discernable blur, Rumble ran right at the human, and knocked them both down. The male got up angrily and Rumble smiled as he aimed one of his pile drivers at the woman's face. He was _really_ going to enjoy this.

John Keller stared in utter horror as the small red machine prepared to slam some sort of hydraulic ram into his wife's face. Unarmed, and with no one nearby, he knew that any move he made would mean instant death for his beloved wife of more than thirty years. Without even realizing it, a silent prayer flew through his mind.

The red machine stared at him with pure malice apparent in every menacing snarl that the thing shot at him. Then suddenly, a look of total agony appeared in the things face, and a small cry of pain emerged from it as it staggered backwards.

Rumble staggered backwards as an unbelievable amount of agony shot through his frame. Never had he felt _anything_ even remotely as painful as this. It was as if every pain receptor in his frame had been over sensitized by a factor of ten, before someone had dropped him in a vat of molten metal. Within a few microseconds as the natives of this world measured time, he couldn't take it anymore and he screamed in both terror, and pain.

Mrs. Keller stared in stark terror at the robot that had just threatened to kill her. She knew without a doubt that it wanted something from her husband. But then, when it had staggered back and screamed, she knew that something was causing it more pain than she wanted to know about. She slowly got to her feet, and discovered that she was going very stiff soon, since she was already a little sore. She went to stand next to her husband, and hoped that he could tell her something about the still shrieking machine.

His mind was completely blank from shock. First, this _thing_ had appeared out of nowhere to nearly kill his wife, and had then threatened to smash her flat with some sort of ram thing, and now it was acting like he'd taken a cutting torch to it or something. Sec Def Keller shook his head as he tried to understand what was happening. Then the thing turned towards him and he could see the optics. There was a desperate pleading contained in those glowing orbs, even as the thing's voice died out to nothing more than a mere croak of agonized pain. Then when the robot turned to look in horror at the same weapon that had been aimed at his wife, John Keller thought he understood what was happening.

Rumble couldn't believe it. His right pile driver was disintegrating right before his optics, and he felt what just _had_ to be each and every molecule as it happened. The incredible pain was spark shattering in its unbelievable intensity, and he turned once again to look at the fleshy natives of this world and tried to beg and plead for his life.

The aging couple watched in stunned silence as the red machine began to vanish right before their eyes at a faster rate. The stuttering croak of agony almost sounded like the thing was trying to say something, but what was happening was obviously too painful for it to form any coherent speech. Even though it was a machine, and even though it had intended harm, it was still horrifying to watch anything die in this fashion.

As he looked at the two while they stared in what looked like the same level of horror that he was feeling, Rumble understood that they could do nothing to help him. With the pain that he was in, he couldn't even focus well enough to say goodbye to his brethren or his creator through his inherent spark link. It was a horrible realization to know that he was going to die alone. Then, another even less welcome thought surged through his processor, and he realized that he wasn't even able to warn anyone about what was happening to him. Whatever strange weapon the organic natives of this planet had come up with, was killing him, and would most likely kill any that followed him. It was a realization that tore and broke his dying spark to know that his brothers and creator would suffer the same fate when they tried to find out what happened to him.

With disbelieving eyes, the two humans watched while the top half of the robot hung suspended in mid air with nothing to support it. Limbs and armor plating were vanishing quickly, and yet at the same time, it wasn't nearly quick enough. The heart breaking, gut-wrenching voice carried every bit of pain the thing _had_ to be feeling at that moment, and it seemed like it would never end.

When it was finally over, and nothing remained of the machine that had been about to kill her, Margaret Keller turned to her husband in disbelief. "What... what just happened?"

John Keller swallowed hard as he tried in vain to rid himself of the lump in his throat. "I thought they were exaggerating, but..."

"_What just happened, John?_" Mrs. Keller demanded in near screaming hysterics.

"I'm not sure, dear, but it _looks_ like that was the wrath of the robot God. I... I mean it's the same thing they showed me back at the base... but why _that one_? He wouldn't have sworn that oath, so... I don't have a clue. The only ones that _will_ know are back at Nellis." Keller stated hesitantly.

"Then I think we'd best get back there and find out what just happened, because I don't know about you, but that was _the_ most frightening thing I've ever seen!" She said shakily.

Secretary Keller nodded his head. He couldn't argue with that, and wouldn't have even if he _could_. There were some things, that just weren't meant to be seen, and he was sure that this had been one of them. His hand shook as he got out his cell phone and made arrangements to be flown straight to Nellis Air Force Base.

Through out the flight, neither of the two spoke. What they had witnessed had not only been too horrific for words, but it had severely unnerved them as well. As soon as they disembarked from the Government issued Lear jet, they had gone straight to none other than Optimus Prime.

Optimus looked down at the aged humans with serious concern. _Something_ had obviously happened that was no laughing matter. When the woman briefly described what had happened, Optimus reached down and lifted the two in his hand, while sending out a summons on his com unit. **"I've called the others together, so we can discuss this and find out what happened. Both of you can relax. Neither I nor any of the bots under my command will allow anything to happen to you."** He said firmly in a reassuring tone.

As he entered hangar six with the two humans in his hand, Optimus looked around to see who was present. He didn't have to look for Ratchet since the medic was already headed straight for them and even had a scan in progress.

"**Hmm... At least the two or aren't seriously injured, although Mrs. Keller should take it easy for the next few days."** Ratchet stated abruptly.

All of the Autobots had gathered for a swiftly called meeting and more than a few of the personnel from the base were in attendance as well when the hangar was filled with shouts as Glen and Maggie came running in while the latter carried the curled up and whimpering form of Frenzy.

"**What happened?"** Ratchet asked quickly when he realized what the woman was carrying.

"We don't know! We were supposed to meet up with him to do some more work on the Government firewalls and we went in the computer room and found him like this." Glen exclaimed almost frantically.

Ratchet conducted one scan after another and found nothing wrong on any of the scans. Mystified, he finally tried asking the little mech. The only problem was; he couldn't understand the answer when he finally got one.

"**Is there anyone here who can understand him?"** Ratchet asked irritably after questioning the spastic mech for the fifth time.

"**I think the only ones that **_**can**_** understand him are Barricade and Daniel."** Bumblebee answered.

"**In that case, I'll give them both a call."** Optimus said as he commed Barricade, and sent a signal to the scanning unit that Daniel hopefully still had with him.

All of the other human personnel had arrived before the amber warning light came on signaling that the lift was rising from below. Several minutes later Barricade's voice could be heard as he said something to the other occupant on the lift.

"So, are you gonna tell me what the hell's goin on or not?" Daniel demanded in irritation as the lift came to a stop.

"**For the **_**tenth time**_** you disgusting lump of meat; I can't give you information I don't have!"** Barricade snarled.

"Some piece of super advanced alien technology you are! Why _don't_ you have it?" Daniel demanded as the lift came to a stop.

"**Because, no one's **_**told me**_**, you worthless organic meatbag!"** Barricade retorted instantly. **"Besides, we're here so we can just see for ourselves!"**

"Oh… so you couldn't ask ten minutes ago, when we got the call... _nooo_! You gotta be a jackass about it, don't ya, you worthless pile of junk!" Daniel retorted.

"**I can't be all **_**that**_** worthless... after all, you **_**did**_** complete my repairs!"** Barricade shot back with a smug grin.

"Didn't have a damned choice! You're too fuckin worthless for even _my_ junkyard, and I buy almost anything, so what the hell makes you think that any other junkyard would want your busted ass chassis?" Daniel quipped just as smugly.

"**Shut up, you miserable viral plague. We're here, and we need to find out what happened!"** Barricade snapped as the two stepped off the lift.

"What's goin on?" Daniel asked loudly as he and the mech who was easily keeping pace with the rapidly moving salvage operator walked up to Optimus.

"**Something has happened, and I'm not completely certain, but I think Frenzy has been affected by it. You'll have to get further detail from Ratchet or perhaps Frenzy. We aren't able to understand him, but the two of you **_**can.**_** That's why you were called."** Optimus stated calmly.

"**Frenzy! What's wrong?"** Barricade demanded as he walked over to where Ratchet was still scanning the small mech.

The optics of nearly every bot in the hangar shot wide at the sight of the demented little salvage operator with an obvious death wish quickly scaling Ratchet's frame like a monkey up a tree, before the man stepped into the mech's hand and knelt down next to Frenzy.

The chrome little mech let out a sound that was almost a whimper, as two of his optics focused on Barricade, while the other two focused on the human next to him. Pain of some kind was evident in those somewhat dim optics as the mech began to stutter out an answer.

"**I... I ... He died. I felt it. Painpainpain. More p.p.p. pain."** Frenzy answered in his spastic fashion.

Not entirely certain that he understood it right, Daniel looked over at Barricade for confirmation. "Okay, why would he feel a rumble die?"

"**Rumble is not a what, but a **_**who**_**! Namely one of his brother cassettes. They are spark linked so he would have felt it if something happened to one of the others."** Barricade said quietly.

"Okay, so the question is what happened to Rumble, right?" Daniel asked quickly.

"**From the description that I was given, Rumble was apparently the mech who attacked the Secretary of Defense and his wife. From what they observed, it seems that Rumble **_**might**_** have fallen afoul of the Oath of Primus, but I don't know how that could have happened. Rumble would not have made that oath."** Optimus supplied quietly.

"**Rumble didn't, but **_**Frenzy did!**_** Having the type of spark connection that they do, I suppose that it's **_**possible**_** that Frenzy's oath might apply to them as well."** Starglide put in.

"**If that's the case, then someone will need to inform Soundwave of this. If he is killed, then Frenzy will die soon afterwards."** Barricade added suddenly.

"**No! No tell! Oath stop them. .m.m.m. Frenzy k. K. Ke. Keep oath."** Frenzy stuttered emphatically.

"Did I just hear that right? Is he sayin _not_ to tell this Soundwave so that the oath he swore could kill them and maybe him too?" Sec Def Keller demanded suspiciously.

"**Unfortunately, that is exactly what he said. Soundwave is among one of the more dangerous mechs alive. Not only is he highly skilled in communications, but under certain circumstances he can also read the mind of any mech nearby if he wants to. Losing him and his abilities would hurt the Decepticons and their cause greatly."** Optimus stated gravely.

"Are you seriously expecting me to just let him risk his life on the off chance that this Soundwave character would try to kill someone?" Keller demanded. "Granted, he's the one that first tried to kill me, but still, if one of those others like him dying does this to him, then I can't let him do it. That attack happened several hours ago, and he's _still_ down for the count!"

"**You're right. Frenzy is still incapacitated. If Soundwave had performed the attack, then he might well be dead right now, and given the origin of that death, I doubt that I or Daniel would be able to bring him back."** Ratchet replied irritably.

"**Frenzy has made a choice while knowing the repercussions. At this time, it is only his oath that will prevent any assault from Soundwave or his cassettes from succeeding. I realize that he's willing to sacrifice his own life to ensure the safety of this world, but think about the **_**wording**_** of the Oath that Barricade swore and Frenzy seconded. Soundwave himself wouldn't have to attack Earth or even order another of his cassettes to do it! Just **_**allowing**_** another Decepticon to attack Earth would result in his death and Frenzy's as well. Plus, it still wouldn't prevent that attack from happening. Soundwave will **_**have**_** to be told."** Starglide said firmly.

"_**No!**_** Not tell Soundwave! **_**No!**_**"** Frenzy bellowed as loudly as he could while glaring at the femme.

Starglide stepped forward and took the small form from Ratchet's hand, and positioned her own hand, so that Frenzy was facing her optic to optic. **"Look Frenzy, I understand that you are taking that oath as seriously as it deserves, but all it would take is for Soundwave to allow another mech to do anything that would jeopardize Earth, and you would die having never had the opportunity to fight back. I do not wish to see that happen."**

"As much as I hate to agree with her on anything, she _does_ have a point. Ain't no use in dying for nothin." Daniel added trying to reason with the little mech.

"**D... dondon'tdon't... don't care! Not tell!"** Frenzy huffed adamantly while he crossed all four of his arms across his small chest plates, and tried valiantly to appear to be in better condition than he actually was.

Optimus pinched the bridge of his nasal plates as he felt a phenomenal processor ache coming on. This was indeed turning out to be one _very_ long vorn. **"Very, well Frenzy. Though I do not agree with your decision, I realize that this **_**is**_** your decision to make, and I will abide by it."** He said heavily.

Starglide looked down at the small mech in her right hand, and tried to think of something, _anything_ that might convince him to change his mind. Drawing a complete blank on that score, the femme nodded her head in respect for the tiny bot. Whatever else he might be, and whatever he might have done was now in the past. At this moment, he was intentionally using himself as a means of shielding Earth from anything Soundwave might be planning, and she couldn't help but admire the resolve behind such an act.

Ironhide was staring at the mech in his sibling's hand with a bit of newfound respect. He would never have expected the little 'Con to be so unyielding in his defense of this world. The only thing that that bothered him was why the 'Con would do it.

It had taken him several hours to recover from the pain caused by the death of Rumble. Now that he was beginning to think clearly once again, Soundwave began to search for the cause. Accessing the Human's internet, he began searching for anything that might possibly pose a threat to a Cybertronian. An instant later, the notoriously emotionless mech cold have sworn that he felt the energon freeze in his lines as he discovered the existence of dangers that _no_ Cybertronian could have imagined in their worst nightmares! The sheer terror that he felt from his symbionts was perfectly understandable, given the circumstances.

Grief and rage instantly replaced the agony he'd felt over Rumbles death. Had he known of the existence of such creatures, he never would have sent _any_ of his creations down to that abominable planet! Soundwave began to analyze other options, but soon found that he didn't have enough on the ground intelligence available. With no other recourse left, he accessed the upload he'd received from Frenzy via Rumble. As soon as he accessed the files from Frenzy, all of his systems froze. This? _This_ was what had caused Rumble's death? Impossible! Soundwave couldn't believe it, but yet, it appeared that it was true. He would obviously need to consider this new development very carefully before he proceeded any further.

After more than two hours of carefully analyzing the data upload from Frenzy, Soundwave knew that there had been no mistake. Frenzy had made an oath in response to kindness from a human, and because of a few native items on the planet that he didn't want destroyed by war with the Decepticons. Having learned that the horrific creatures he had retrieved information on were truly nothing more than fictions that Frenzy had made to appear real, Soundwave headed to the surface of Earth. It was time to settle this, once and for all.

He entered the atmosphere of the planet as a blazing ball of fire that only served to provide a visual clue for the incredible fury that blazed even hotter in Soundwave's spark. He came in hard and fast, because he knew the exact tolerances of his frame, as well as the composition of the atmosphere. He knew that he had to make his entry as fast as possible, because with Frenzy's oath, there was no way that he could risk his death and the deaths of his remaining cassettes, by blinding the humans to his arrival. Instead, he made sure to make it to the surface as fast as he possibly could without sustaining damage.

Upon reaching the surface, Soundwave took the first available alt mode to be found. The AT&T GMC Panel truck was being used for telephone line repairs and jack installation in Human homes, but that was of no importance to the mech at that moment. He discretely made his way into Las Vegas, while switching his alt mode more than six different times in order to avoid pursuit and detection by the humans. He knew that because of the oath Frenzy had made, that he wouldn't even be able to defend himself against any attacks from the humans if he was discovered. It merely made his need for stealth that much more critical. The only real problem that he was encountering was that constantly changing his alt mode was severely draining on his energy reserves. He moved to one of the less savory areas of the city, and waited to find an alt mode that would be both suitable for his frame size, as well as his personality but was also something that would not attract undue attention for the time being. The mech's patience was rewarded when a black car passed by his location. As soon as he had spotted it, the mech was looking it up on the human's internet to discover what he could about it. This was something he had been doing with each vehicle that passed. Now, however, he had found something that he actually liked.

It was a jet-black satin finish, with limousine tint in the windows. Being an older model car ensured that it wouldn't attract _too_ much attention, but at the same time, its appearance and performance were highly intimidating. The highly customized 1985 Oldsmobile FE3-X 442 was better known to the humans as the 'Darth Vader II'! Although he would never have known of its existence had he not encountered one, it was exactly what Soundwave wanted! Sleek, powerful, and intimidating. It possessed an ominous appearance, aggressive performance, and handling, _plus_ it was even named after a fictional, but still _highly_ intimidating individual. In Soundwave's opinion, a more fitting alt mode could not have been found.

General Mallory handed the Secretary of Defense and his wife, each a glass containing four fingers of scotch from his bottle of rather expensive '72 Glenlivet. He wasn't concerned about the expense at this point, because he knew good and well that these two had just received a shock that was a lot worse than the one he'd gotten the day before. Sure, he'd known that aliens existed, but then he'd had the body of one, and a wrecked ship that belonged to others. The Kellers on the other hand, had just been attacked by an alien that had truly meant to kill them, and only what seemed to be divine intervention had saved their lives. It didn't matter who you were, something like that was bound to shake you up.

Optimus Prime stood silently in the hangar as he observed the two humans out of concern for their health, although he was keeping an optic on everything else that was also going on in the hangar as well. Frenzy was in a corner recalibrating the machine guns that had been returned to him along with his other weapons. Mikeala was watching this process with interest. Sam was also watching, although it was more out of morbid curiosity, considering that the mech had tried to kill him at one point. Ratchet was berating Barricade as he reinstalled the myriad weapons that the noted Enforcer was particularly fond of, and Daniel was assisting the medic in that process. The three of them were once again trading insults and bantering with one another. The Autobot Leader paid them little heed since both Starglide and Ironhide were standing nearby in case they were needed to break up any quarrels. Everything seemed to be starting to settle down smoothly, which was why Optimus was so surprised when he received a comm signal from an unknown source.

"_**Designation Soundwave requesting direct communication with Optimus Prime. Purpose; informative discussion."**_ The transmitted voice stated as the Autobot leader opened the channel.

The optics on the large Autobot narrowed in suspicion as he listened to the request. Soundwave had never been known to lie or falsify anything as far as he knew, but then this particular Decepticon had always been more than a bit of a mystery to the Autobots. Little was actually known about the enigmatic mech, except that he was notoriously calculating and nearly emotionless in pursuit of his goals.

"_**What do you want Soundwave?"**_ Optimus answered reluctantly.

"_**Elaboration. Designation Soundwave requests direct communication. Clarified purpose; discuss the immediate cessation of hostilities for this unit."**_ Soundwave replied instantly.

Optimus knew that Soundwave had never been one to falsify information; just as he knew that there was now no way that the mech could do anything against him. Rumble's unexpected demise was ample evidence that Frenzy's oath applied to his fellow cassettes as well as himself. The Autobot leader sent a data burst containing a set of coordinates not far from the base, so that if something did happen, back up would not be far away.

"**Secretary Keller, may I speak to you privately?"** Optimus asked quietly.

Secretary of Defense John Keller nodded and got up from the table he was sitting at with his wife. Exiting the hangar so that they could speak without being over heard, he turned to the Autobot Leader. "The way you asked about this makes me think that something's up. What is it?"

"**Soundwave has just contacted me requesting that I meet with him to discuss a cease fire that would apply to him, and most likely to his cassettes. I believe that he may have learned the cause of Rumble's death. If this is the case, then it means that even if he refuses to join the Autobot ranks, he would still need to work with your government to defend your planet from Decepticon intentions. Either way, this provides a possible opportunity that you should take advantage of."** Optimus said gravely as he knelt down to allow the man to look him in the optics more comfortably.

The Secretary of Defense shook his head as he thought about what he'd just been told. "I know you're right about this Optimus, but this... this whole mess just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Last week... I was pretty sure that there might be life on other planets out there, but now, it seems that we're caught up in the middle of a war, that doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon."

"**Anyone who ever said that the responsibilities of leadership were easy was obviously never in a position to lead others. As leaders, who are responsible for the welfare of those we lead; we often have to set aside our personal feelings and do what is best for those we serve."** Optimus said in an almost sad tone.

SecDef Keller sighed heavily as he suddenly looked up at the large Autobot "I know. I know. That's about the hardest thing to do though, isn't it?"

"**Yes, Mr. Keller. It is."** Optimus agreed readily.

"You know, I'd really appreciate it, if you'd call me John. With this job, that's something I reserve for my friends."

"**I am honored to be considered your friend, John."** Optimus answered seriously.

"Good. Now you can do me one favor. Take me with you to meet this Soundwave character."

"_**What? Why?**_**"** Optimus demanded in surprise.

"Take me with you when you go to meet Soundwave. Look, this isn't as harebrained as it seems, okay. That oath of Primus thing is still in effect right? That means none of them will be able to do anything before they start to disintegrate. I know I didn't believe it when I first heard about it, even though you showed me some _really_ fancy video. But now, I've seen the proof with my own two eyes. My wife is still alive because of your Primus. So I owe him big time for that reason alone. Not to mention all the other reasons. But that oath means that Soundwave doesn't really have much choice in defending Earth. He's probably not going to like siding with you or the Autobots after being at war with you for thousands of years, _but_ he hasn't been at war with _us_ until now! So maybe, just maybe, the two of us can convince him to side with humans even if he wants nothing to do with the Autobots." John reasoned.

"Now look. I'm not saying we have to do it that way, because we don't. But it _does_ give us another option. You say that having Soundwave on our side would be huge advantage; I'll take your word on that because you'd know him a lot better than I do. On the other hand, that Frenzy character insisted on joining us so he could keep his damned coffee and internet of all things." John said with a rueful shake of his head. "I hate to say it, but that crazy junkyard owner actually did something _very_ right when he gave Frenzy that coffee. Strategically, and tactically, there won't be any difference between him joining you or siding with us. At least not as far as we're concerned, but it might make a difference to him." John said earnestly.

"**In truth, I had not considered that possibility. You could very well be right. However, Soundwave is noted for being an extremely logical and emotionless mech, and it will likely require a logical reason to join us, whether Human or Autobot. He will need a valid and logical reason to directly oppose the remaining Decepticons."** Optimus replied.

"I think you're right on that one. The whole 'join us or die' thing doesn't actually hold that much appeal to us humans either. I know a lot of our soldiers would tell whoever gave 'em that option to get bent!" SecDef Keller said emphatically.

"**As much as I would like to disagree with you on that, I can't. There are many Autobots who would say much the same when presented with that as an option. So, in that case, let's go."** Optimus answered as he transformed.

The Secretary of Defense climbed into the cab of the large blue and red Peterbuilt truck, and sat in the driver's seat, as Optimus headed for the coordinates of the meeting point.

Soundwave stood impassively at the exact coordinates that he had been given by the Autobot leader. He did not fidget, nor did he pace. In fact, there was absolutely no outward sign of the turmoil within his processors. His cassettes were waiting in their carry holds where Soundwave knew that they would remain safe for the time being; the ever-uncertain future on the other hand, was another matter entirely.

He would never have believed that it would come down to this. Megatron was dead. According to the report that Starscream had delivered to the rest of the Decepticons, he'd been deactivated by one of the organic flesh creatures who inhabited this planet. Soundwave remembered the mech. Megatron had been the High Lord Protector of Cybertron for untold thousands of years, before he'd launched this war. In the beginning, Megatron had promised and vowed to bring about a measure of equality that was unprecedented in Cybertronian history. Soundwave himself had possessed severe doubts about _any_ mech's ability to bring about such change when he'd first encountered some of the propaganda that was being spread by many bots. Then, his position as a lowly mining technician was ended because of an immensely biased prejudice against his _rumored_ telepathic abilities. Those abilities hadn't even been _verified_, but that mere rumor had been all the excuse that was needed or wanted. It had been Megatron himself who had attempted to intervene in his behalf. Even though he'd brought the full weight of his rather exalted position as High Lord Protector to bear against Soundwave's employers, it had proven to be a worthless effort. The prejudice was simply too rampant, too pervasive for mere words to counter. Megatron himself had then struck the first blows of the war in Soundwave's behalf, and killed the mech with ease. In that single decisive moment, Megatron had earned Soundwave's loyalty. Now, Megatron was dead, the lives and very existence of his much loved cassettes were in jeopardy, and his own life was also at risk.

Although he personally had no qualms about risking his own life, he would not risk the lives of his cassettes without one _pit_ of a good reason! With the All Spark now destroyed, Megatron deceased, and the oath that Frenzy had sworn, Soundwave could see no other option but to side with the human natives of this world. Joining the Autobots was simply out of the question, because he was certain that the same unyielding prejudice that had caused this war would remain. He entertained some small amount of hope, that these humans might be willing to give him and his cassettes the type of chance, and the opportunities that simply hadn't been available to him on Cybertron. Now, all that remained for him to do is to convince the Autobot leader, who was supposedly fair and open minded, that neither he nor his cassettes would pose a threat to Earth. Soundwave was certain that this would _not_ be an easy task, since he was fairly certain that he couldn't use his telepathic ability on the Autobot without risking everything he still cared about.

He noted a rather large vehicle approaching the designated coordinates and scanned it. Sensing the presence of a human in the vehicle Soundwave immediately assumed his alt mode to avoid detection while awaiting the arrival of the Autobot leader. The vehicle moved steadily towards his position without pausing, and Soundwave became leery because of both the fairly remote location as well as the lack of paved roads. Then, the large cargo hauler rolled to a stop and the human inside climbed down from the cab of the large blue and red vehicle. Soundwave felt his spark sink and nearly freeze as he recognized the human as the same one he had targeted for interrogation.

Soundwave watched in silent horror as the blue and red cargo vehicle began to transform. That was when he noticed the rather small Autobot emblem on the front where the manufacturer logo would normally be. Soundwave remained in his alt mode and started his engine. He knew that if this came down to a firefight, that he would be helpless to even fire a single shot in self-defense, therefore he'd have no choice but to flee. It was not a pleasant realization.

"**Soundwave shut down your engine and stand down."** Optimus said in a quiet voice that had a firm edge to it.

"**Negative! Self-defense, not possible. Remaining viable alternative; retreat." **Soundwave replied immediately.

"**You requested this meeting, Soundwave…"** Optimus began.

"**Request did not include **_**termination!**_**"** Soundwave interrupted bluntly, as he put his transmission in gear and revved his engine.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up, _both_ of you! This isn't going to come down to a shoot out if I have anything to say about it. Now from what I understand, Soundwave here, asked for this meeting. So, before things go any further, I think we should hear him out. And we're not going to get anywhere with a bunch of displays of robot style bravado! So _both_ of you just need to calm down!" John Keller spoke up quickly.

"Soundwave obviously knows about the oath the Frenzy took, and he knows that he can't fight back without that Primus of yours taking him out. He came here to talk, so that's what we're going to do, and that's _all_ we're going to do!" Keller stated firmly.

Optimus didn't say anything for the moment as he scanned the mech in front of him. The alt mode that the mech was using was obviously a high performance vehicle, but then Optimus realized something. The secondary engine that Daniel had located for him could easily outperform what Soundwave was using. If it came down to it, the Decepticon communications officer couldn't even make a decent run for it. Then he realized that _all_ of the Autobots had secondary engines that would allow them to catch up to the mech if he _did_ try to run. Whether he knew it or not, Soundwave was basically trapped!

"**Very well, John. I will hear what Soundwave has to say."** Optimus stated finally.

"And you'll keep an open mind about it?" Keller asked intently.

"**Yes. I will keep my processors open to whatever suggestion he might make. That does **_**not**_** however, mean that I will necessarily abide by those suggestions."** Optimus qualified.

John Keller let out a heavy sigh of frustration. This had been a _very_ long day, and it was only getting worse by the minute. He ran his right hand through his hair before looking up at the Autobot leader. "As long as you're willing to listen, I guess I can't ask for any more than that." He said in exasperation before turning to face the older model black car.

"Now look, I know you sent that Rumble character after me for some reason, and he damned near killed my wife. So, the _only_ reason I'm trusting you enough to be in the same area that you're in, is because of that robot God by the name of Primus! That boils down to the fact that I don't have a whole lot of a good reason to trust you." Keller began seriously.

"On the other hand, Frenzy _did_ try to kill me the first time I ran into him, and I have to give him some credit for doing a fine job of things so far…"

"**Fictitious website; effective at minimum; potentially terrifying."** Soundwave stated with no small amount of pride in his creation's accomplishment.

Keller snorted a short laugh at that. "Yeah, he did a bang up job on that, didn't he? But the question is; what do you want to accomplish by this meeting?"

"**Designation Soundwave requests to join Human faction. Cassettes will assist in Earth's defense. Autobot faction; biased, possessed of prejudicial preconceptions and not trusted. Protection from Autobot forces also requested."** Soundwave told the human firmly.

Optimus revved his engine in anger at the rather provocative words from the mech, because he did _not_ like being told in such a blunt fashion that the mechs under his command were considered bigots. But then the Autobot leader froze in the middle of his thoughts as a rather unwelcome and very nasty realization occurred to him. There _were_ quite a few of his troops that would eagerly take _any_ opportunity to offline the mech in front of him without waiting for any type of excuse. If he were to be perfectly honest about this, then he would have to admit that he had at _least_ three Autobots who might need to be watched for quite some time. It was _not_ a welcome realization for the Autobot leader.

"**Soundwave, I will give you my word that I will not allow **_**any**_** of the Autobots under my command to initiate an assault against you. I am aware that the oath to which Frenzy swore would prevent you from initializing an attack against them, and even prevent you from adequately defending yourself from any attack they might use. Therefore, I will make it **_**clear**_** that they are **_**not**_** to provoke you in any way! Is that agreeable?"** Optimus stated firmly.

"**Affirmative. Provision; cassettes **_**must**_** be included!"** Soundwave replied without hesitation.

"**I will agree to that. However, you will be reporting to, and receiving your orders from humans, **_**not**_** an Autobot! Both you and your cassettes will become part of a response force that will be directed and governed by **_**humans**_**! You will **_**not**_** be given an Autobot insignia, nor will you become a member of my troops. Is that understood?"** Optimus stated in a no nonsense tone of voice.

"**Affirmative. Organic natives; preferable to Autobots."** Soundwave retorted smoothly.

"Well! I guess that settles that! Okay, Soundwave isn't it? I'm John Keller. Now, obviously, you already know who I am, and what my position is, so I don't think I need to tell you that I'm one of the people you'll be taking orders from. Now, I can already tell that you don't like or trust the Autobots, and I'm sure you got reasons for it, so I won't try to convince you otherwise. What I _will_ say is that you'll have to work alongside 'em sometimes and it might not be an easy thing to do. I just want you to understand, that I'm not going to hold a grudge. I'll admit that I'm not happy about my wife getting attacked as a way to get to me, but the one that did it's dead. That doesn't put you and me off to a very good start. So, why don't we let bygones be bygones, and start all over?" Sec Def Keller said bluntly.

Soundwave could _not_ believe his audio receivers! This organic in front of him freely admitted to knowing that Rumble had been responsible for an assault on him, and his organic spark mate, but was _still_ willing to give he and his cassettes a chance! _Never_, had Soundwave encountered such unyielding support from an adversary. It was the type of situation that Soundwave could not even have dreamed of back on Cybertron. He knew that he had to make the best of this one last chance.

"**Opportunity; appreciated. Request permission to begin calculating necessary defensive readjustments."** Soundwave said finally.

John Keller shook his head no while waving his right hand in the same way. "Let me get this straight. You're asking permission to _think_ about methods of reorganizing our defenses?"

"**Affirmative."** Soundwave answered immediately.

"Okay, _no_! I don't have the slightest _clue_ about how things are run with the Decepticons, but around here, you can think about anything you damned well please. Draw up all the plans you want. If you come up with something that you think needs to be implemented, _then_ you can come talk to me or someone else in a position to authorize it. If the plan seems solid enough to work with, then we can start to work on it. On the other hand, there might be some things you end up thinking of, which would never have occurred to one of us humans that you can do without even talking to us about. That website you mentioned that Frenzy set up? No one had a _clue_ that he was even setting that up until one of my advisors saw him doing it. Then, well, it just sorta took off when a bunch of folks started suggesting things to put in there. He didn't ask, and for something like that, he didn't _need_ to! Get the picture?" Sec Def Keller explained a little smugly.

Soundwave was stunned into momentary silence. Such independent action would have been a death sentence among the Decepticons. Even if the results were beyond all possible expectations, there would have been severe repercussions from both jealous mechs as well as from Megatron himself who would _not_ tolerate any form of _potential_ insubordination!

"**Autonomous action is permitted?"** Soundwave finally asked in surprise.

"If it's something that doesn't jeopardize lives or resources… _absolutely_! Otherwise, talk to me, or one of the folks I point out to you, so we can discuss it, maybe even refine it a bit, and put it to work. But you can _think_ up any plan you want." Keller said flatly. "Understand?"

"**Affirmative. Parameters clarified. Responsibilities; understood."** Soundwave answered promptly.

"Good! That settles that. Now, I'm going to have to ride with you while we follow Optimus back to the base, because otherwise there's going to be a lot of red tape and idiotic procedures to go through in order to get you on that base. There aren't a whole lot of robotic cars roaming around on this planet, and the Guards at the gate will be pretty sure that you got someone hiding in the trunk or something if I'm _not_ sitting in your driver's seat." Keller suggested.

The only response from the jet-black car was that the driver side door slid silently open, while the massive engine under the hood continued to release a steady menacing rumbling purr.

"_God Damnit!_" Daniel growled angrily, as he reached up and scratched furiously at his head with his right hand.

Frenzy snickered before slugging down some more of the Mean Bean that he held in his upper right hand. **"Ch-ch-check mate!"**

"Damnit!" Daniel growled again as he glared at the chessboard where he'd been thoroughly decimated.

Frenzy began cackling even louder as one of the main doors to the hangar opened and the large red and blue form of Optimus rolled in followed by a jet-black Oldsmobile.

"**Coffee Man lose!"** Frenzy called ecstatically.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Hey ya hear this?" Daniel said as he held up his right hand that was shooting the bird straight down.

Frenzy focused all four optics on the human in confusion at that question.

"No? Then let me turn it up for you!" Daniel stated with a smirk as he turned his right hand so that he was now shooting the bird properly.

"Better yet, let me give it to you in stereo!" Daniel smirked as he shot the bird with both hands now.

"Or do you prefer 3-D surround sound!" Daniel popped off as he began moving both hands in circles while smirking at the mech across the table.

All four of Frenzy's optics shot wide at that. He knew _exactly_ what this human was doing! Suddenly he got an idea.

"**Fo-fo-four point oh digital, **_**Bitch**_**!"** Frenzy snarled as he sat his coffee drink down and shot all four of his hands in the air while shooting the bird at the human with _all_ of them at once!

The loud crash that was heard could very well have been the sound of the Salvage Operator's face falling, but was most likely to have been caused by Barricade falling on his aft before he started laughing uproariously.

Daniel gaped at the little silver mech in shock for a moment before glaring over at Barricade. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Rust Bucket! I don't give a fuck _what_ you say… I'm borrowing this little guy the next time I need to flip you off!" He snarled sarcastically.

Of course, that only made _both_ mechs laugh even harder, while quite a few humans in the hanger were now snickering as well.

"Time for a rematch, ya 'lil Coffee Machine!" Daniel snapped as he began setting up the chess board again.

"**You might as well give up now, Fleshwad. Frenzy has already decimated that chess playing program called 'Deep Blue', and even that wasn't really able to present him with much of a challenge."** Barricade stated with a smug sounding snicker.

"Whoa! Where did he get a hold of that program at?" Glen demanded suddenly.

"I've heard of that thing. Isn't that the computer program that beat a Grandmaster at chess? That thing was all over the News a couple of years ago." Mikeala put in.

"**Yes, it is. And the human that got beaten was Kasperov. Frenzy downloaded the program not too long after we arrived on Earth. It didn't take him long to learn how to play, but it **_**did**_** take a couple of weeks before he developed a program that could actually give him a challenge."** Barricade answered nonchalantly as he began to get back to his feet.

"Oh great! I'm going up against something that can beat the living hell out of a Grandmaster!" Daniel muttered sourly.

"Okay, Frenzy. You can hand it over now." Daniel snapped louder as he looked back at the little silver mech.

"**H-h-hand what o-o-o-ov-over?"** Frenzy asked in confusion.

"My _ass_! If you're gonna beat me that damn bad, you can at _least_ be nice enough to hand it back to me!" Daniel quipped in a sour tone as he finished setting up the board!

Barricade sat back down as he started laughing at the salvage operator again.

"Let's go." Daniel told Frenzy seriously.

"You're actually going to try again? After what we just heard? You really _are_ a glutton for punishment aren't you?" General Mallory demanded in disbelief.

"Well, I figure if I'm gonna lose, I might at least be able to learn something. Besides, if he's _that_ damned good, even if I keep losing, I might get good enough to beat most people." Daniel said reasonably.

"I'll be damned. You actually said something that makes sense for once!" General Mallory retorted.

"**I am afraid that you're game will have to wait."** Optimus said as he transformed and stood up.

At that point, everyone noticed that the large mech had returned. A couple of the people in the hanger also noticed the black car that was being exited by Sec-Def Keller. Almost instantly, Daniel was heading over to the customized Olds. He was again beaten when Mikeala got there first.

"Pop the hood! I have _got_ to see what you've got under here!" Mikeala said with a grin.

"You'll have to ask him to do that." Keller replied evenly.

"Ask who?" Mikeala asked confused.

"**Soundwave."** Optimus said answering the question somberly.

"**Oh **_**slag**_**!"** Barricade exclaimed loudly.


End file.
